Datalogics Report

Apple and Adobe have been pioneers of the electronics and software industry for a long time now. DataLogics, being one of the most estalished Apple Reseller and Adobe Provider in Chennai, it was the best bet to apply for an internship. Being a die-hard apple fan, I wanted to use the internship opportunity to fully understand the efforts that go into marketing a product and brand, that has already established itself deep into the electronic market. What pushes the sale of Apple products, apart from the brand ‘Apple’? How does Apple maintain its market share, with such high prices, especially with low cost competitors? These are some of the questions that I wanted to practically observe and understand.

I approached DataLogics for an internship in Marketing. As a final year B.B.A. student from Loyola College, I was offered an internship without much hassel. The organization, isn’t a large scale one, but its presence in the Chennai market is unchallengeable. The internship offered was marketing of Apple Products and Adobe Products, to a list of prospective buyers within a time period. It also included the learning and understanding of the products I was to market.

“DataLogics India Private Limited” made a humble beginning in the year 1990 as an Apple Reseller and Service Provider in Chennai, today grown as a Solution provider addressing the needs and wants of large Corporate Newspapers to individual common consumers. Tailoring a customized solution to specific needs using industry standard products and solutions that would be apt for today and are scalable and upgradeable for the growing demands. Building expertise and focus on state of the art technologies that are time tested and emerging for tomorrow are one of the key strengths of the team. Embarking on the new definition of Publishing, be it Graphics Computing, Production efficiency, Digital workflow & optimization, Content Management, Archival and emerging new media solutions, “DataLogics India Private Limited” has earned a reasonable reputation over the years amongst the start-ups and established companies. Transparency in communication, transactions, sensitivity to customer’s commitments and pro-active support has been the major assets of the company since inception.

“DataLogics India Private Limited” is one of the few successful Computer Reseller & Service Provider in Tamilnadu since 1990 who have sustained and grown even in the toughest of times in the IT market.. Ever since Desktop Publishing (DTP) groomed in India, “DataLogics India Private Limited” has evolved with the rapid growth in the IT and Publishing Industry by acting as a Technology interface with the Vendors and customers. With a proven track record in cross-media integration, networking, system integration and personalized support; “DataLogics India Private Limited” has earned more than 70% of Publishing customers in the region till today with a domain experience valuing a 250 man years. All these were possible but for the encouraging customer base, trusted principals, enthusiastic engineers and a steadfast commitment from the Managing Team and Promoters.

The above achievement is seen through successful implementations of projects and solutions undertaken through the leading national and regional newspapers, magazine publishers and large commercial printers; covering geographical circle starting from south of Sri Lanka to Northern most part of India. “DataLogics India Private Limited” not only nurturing the client’s requirement on a timely basis – but has also built longer and healthy relationship with principals and customers.

Adaptation of futuristic technological trends and its implementation strategies & pre/post-sale technical support has been our strong hold throughout. These proven successes are seen with the client’s successful businesses; through our practicality in approach and implementation of publishing and allied solutions to the growing demands of the customers in developing nations like the Indian Sub Continent. Though a key role has been played in the past 20 years, “DataLogics India Private Limited” is committed to offer innovative technological services in the ‘New Media’ to their clients in the forthcoming years. Moreover, “DataLogics India Private Limited” assures their extended support and co-operation towards their customer’s success driven business model and achieving customer’s vision as a whole

“DataLogics India Private Limited” plays a unique role as an external CTO/CIO, IT Manager or an IT audit consultant in the customer’s decision making process. Though made a humble beginning with a handful of customers seeking personalized service for their Hardware and networking resources in and around Chennai has now grown successfully as a Technology interface between the developer’s vision and the customer’s dream. “DataLogics India Private Limited” is proud to win over customers by offering “Service before Sales” and this focus was the key to grow the business volume and retain customers for longer years.

The fact remains that many products and technologies emerge from the western world but when they reach Indian shores, a special Indian flavour gets added to the technology offerings to our Indian customers; “DataLogics India Private Limited” has been playing a significant role concocting the flavour with the vendors based on the in-depth understanding of the Technology adoption in India. These core values have built “DataLogics India Private Limited” as a reliable and preferred Technology provider to large corporate and even to a SOHO user.

“Retaining customers is an art and Customers Service is an Attitude” Team “DataLogics India Private Limited” believes this and strives to retain customers for long. Being proud to keep more than 95% of its clients and still working towards reducing the gap to perfection. All this was possible but for the constructive feedback and loyalty from customers. The company has spread its wings throughout India though more concentrated in Chennai for apple products. To name a few, ITC, The Hindu, Deccan Herald, HTA, O&M, HVF, Indian Airforce, Universal Print Systems Ltd., Scientific Publishing Co. Ltd., Saveetha Institutions, GGS, Qpro, Laserwords, NPT, IIT, Anna University, SAE Academy, Earth Sync, Daily Thanthi, HCL, Alden Prepress and adding everyday.

Application expertise in Print Industry, e-Publishing, Newspaper Workflow, On-demand Printing, Educational & Corporate institutions. Proficiency in handling Apple Computers, Servers, OS, Software Applications, Networking and related IT infrastructure.

Wealth of knowledge in recruiting and training fresh graduates in Engineering & Management and mould them to become successful professionals, become a part of the industry and offer them career path. 250 years of rich man-years and constantly updating the team on current trends to keep them in pace with technology. Offering customized services on-site/off-site, consulting and being a part of the management decision making process for IT infrastructure and solutions. In-depth understanding of Business and Production workflow in large and medium sized Newspaper, On-demand and Commercial Print companies in India and SAARC region.

The team has gained reasonable expertise over the years in smartly adapting the systems and processes that are practiced in the western world. Rich experience in working along with professionals and domain experts in Germany and other western countries on projects and technology implementation and sustaining partner relationships for long years.

Every organisation made up of more than one person will need some form of organisational structure. An organisational chart shows the way in which the chain of command works within the organisation.

Organisations will have different structures. For example most organisations will have a marketing department responsible for market research and marketing planning. A customer services department will look after customer requirements. A human resources department will be responsible for recruitment and selection of new employees, employee motivation and a range of other people focused activities. In addition there will be a number of cross-functional areas such as administration and Information Technology departments that service the functional areas of the company. These departments will provide back up support and training.

Organisations are structured in different ways:
1. by function as described above
2. by regional area – a geographical structure e.g. with a marketing manager North, marketing manager South etc
3. by product e.g. marketing manager crisps, marketing manager drinks, etc
4. into work teams, etc.

Reporting in organisations often takes place down the line. An employee might be accountable to a supervisor, who is accountable to a junior manager, who is then accountable to a senior manager – communication and instructions can then be passed down the line Director

An appointed or elected member of the board of directors of a company who, with other directors, has the responsibility for determining and implementing the company’s policy. A company director does not have to be a stockholder (shareholder) or an employee of the firm, and may only hold the office of director. Directors act on the basis of resolutions made at directors’ meetings, and derive their powers from the corporate legislation and from the company’s articles of association.

As the company’s agents, they can bind the company with valid contracts entered into with third-parties such as buyers, lenders, and suppliers (see powers of directors). Directors are the trustees for the firm and not for individual stockholders, but they may be sued by the stockholders as personally liable for the consequences of the acts that are fraudulent or beyond their vested powers. Also, whether appointed validly or not, they are individually and collectively liable for the acts and/or negligence of the firm. (see liabilities of directors). Unlike stockholders, directors cannot vote by proxy and, unlike employees, cannot absolve themselves of their responsibility for the delegated duties.

Technical Director
The Technical Director (TD) or Technical Manager (TM) is usually a senior technical person within a software company. This person usually possesses the highest level of skill within a specific technical field and may be recognized as an expert in that industry. The Technical Director provides technical direction on business decision making using the Business Decision Mapping technique and in the execution of specific projects. He or she may be assigned to a single project, or may oversee a number of projects with related technologies. A Technical Director also typically keeps close contact with any Production Managers and keeps them informed of their budget status at all Production Meetings. Sales Director

Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm’s sales operations. It is an important business function as net sales through the sale of products and services and resulting profit drive most commercial business. These are also typically the goals and performance indicators of sales management. Sales manager is the typical title of someone whose role is sales management. The role typically involves sales planning, human resources, talent development, leadership and control of resources such as organizational assets.

Financial Manager
A financial manger is a person who takes care of all the important financial functions of an organization. The person in charge should maintain a far sightedness in order to ensure that the funds are utilized in the most efficient manner. His actions directly affect the Profitability, growth and goodwill of the firm.

Customer Relationship Manager
CRM is the abbreviation for customer relationship manager. CRM entails all aspects of interaction that a company has with its customer, whether it is sales or service-related. CRM is often thought of as a business strategy that enables businesses to: * Understand the customer

* Retain customers through better customer experience
* Attract new customer
* Win new clients and contractsIncrease profitably
* Decrease customer management costs

HR Manager
Human resource (HR) managers are involved with recruitment, training, career development, compensation and benefits, employee relations, industrial relations, employment law, compliance, disciplinary and grievance issues, redundancies etc. The job involves keeping up to date with areas such as employment law, which change often. Generalist HR roles are usually found in small and medium sized companies, where the HR manager will deal with the whole range of HR activities. In large multinationals you will often find specialists, for example in learning and development, recruitment or employee relations.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS6

Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 Extended software delivers state-of-the-art imaging magic, new creative options, and blazingly fast performance. Retouch with greater precision, and intuitively create 3D graphics, 2D designs, and movies using new and reimagined tools and workflows.*

Upgrade to Photoshop CS6 Extended and maximize your creativity. Unparalleled speed and power, groundbreaking Content-Aware tools, and simpler, more powerful 3D content creation are just a few of the enhancements in this powerful new release.

The top new features in Photoshop CS6 Extended
Boost your productivity and enhance your creativity with groundbreaking new Content-Aware tools, the new Adobe Mercury Graphics engine, simplified 3D artwork creation, reengineered design tools, and more.*

Create 3D graphics with ease
Discover an easy way to create 3D artwork with an intuitive user interface, and enhance your 3D creations with shadows, lighting, animation, and new sketch and cartoon looks.* Maximize your creativity

Experience creative breakthroughs with new and enhanced design tools. Intuitively create videos within the familiar Photoshop environment. Create custom photographic blurs, and paint and draw more expressively.

LIGHTROOM
Create stunning images with a full set of superior image processing tools and the freedom to experiment in a nondestructive editing environment. Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 4 software lets you make powerful overall adjustments, target specific areas of your photo, and much more.

Photo book creation
Create beautiful photo books from your images. Lightroom includes easy one-click automatic layouts, or you can select from a variety of page layouts to customize your book design. Add rich text and choose from several book sizes, formats, and cover options. Upload your book for printing with just a few clicks.

Highlight and shadow recovery
Bring out all the detail that your camera captures in dark shadows and bright highlights. Now you have more power than ever before to create great images in challenging light.

Superior image processing
Get the absolute best from your images with state-of-the-art image processing controls. Make precise overall adjustments or correct targeted areas. Nondestructive environment

Set your creativity free in a nondestructive editing environment that encourages experimentation. Your original images are never altered, and it’s easy to reverse your steps. Extended video support

Organize, view, and make adjustments to video clips. Play and trim clips, extract still images from them, or adjust clips with the Quick Develop tool.

Selective editing brushes
Extend your creative control with a flexible brush that lets you adjust selected areas of your photo for just the look you want.

Advanced black-and-white conversion
Gain powerful control over the tonal qualities that make or break black-and-white images. Precisely mix information from eight color channels when you convert to grayscale.

Superior noise reduction
Achieve amazing, natural-looking results from your high ISO images with state-of-the-art noise reduction technology. Apply noise reduction to the entire image or target specific areas. One-click adjustments of multiple images

Save time when processing many images. Apply the same Develop settings — exposure or contrast, for example — to all the photographs in a group at once using presets or syncing.

ILLUSTRATOR

Work with precision, speed, and rock-solid stability on large, complex files in Adobe Illustrator® CS6 software — powered by the Adobe Mercury Performance System. A newly modern interface streamlines daily tasks. Enjoy a new tracing engine, quickly design seamless patterns, and apply gradients to strokes.

Adobe Mercury Performance System
Work with precision, speed, and rock-solid stability on large, complex files thanks to a new performance system that powers Illustrator CS6. With native 64-bit support on Mac OS and Windows® you can access all the RAM on your computer to easily open, save, and export large files and preview demanding designs. Just about everything feels faster and more responsive. More about the Mercury Performance System

Pattern creation
Easily create seamlessly tiled vector patterns. Experiment freely with different types of repeating patterns that can be edited at any time for maximum design flexibility.

New Image Trace
Convert raster images to editable vectors with a completely new tracing engine. Get clean lines, accurate fitting, and reliable results without
using complex controls.

New efficient, flexible interface
Take fewer steps to accomplish daily tasks in a new, streamlined interface. Enjoy inline editing of layer names, precise color sampling, and UI brightness that’s smoothly adjustable to match other Adobe tools. Gradients on strokes

Apply gradients to your strokes — along the length, across the width, or within the stroke itself — all with complete control over gradient placement and opacity.

Inline editing in panels
Efficiently edit names in layers, swatches, brushes, artboards, and other panels directly in the panels themselves without using intermediate dialog boxes.

Gaussian Blur enhancement
See that Gaussian Blur and effects such as Drop Shadows and Glows are applied significantly faster than before. To improve accuracy, preview directly on the artboard rather than in a dialog box.

Color panel enhancements
Sample colors faster and more precisely using an expandable color spectrum in the Color panel. And now, copy and paste hex values into other applications more quickly.

Transform panel enhancements
Quickly access the popular Scale Strokes and Effects option, thanks to its new availability in the Transform panel.

Type panel improvements
Use arrow keys to change fonts in context for selected text. Glyphs for caps, superscripts, and more can now be accessed in one place — from the Character panel.

Dockable hidden tools
Tear off and dock previously hidden tools, such as the Shape and Pen tools. Dock tools horizontally or vertically for a more efficient workspace.

Workspaces with rooms
Move fluidly from workspace to workspace with support for rooms. Achieve consistency across your work areas and maintain layout changes until you actively reset them.

Control panel enhancements
Quickly find what you need in a more efficient Control panel, now with consistency across options, anchor point controls, clipping masks, envelope distortions, and more.

HiDPI and Retina display support
See more detail in your images and text, and in the Illustrator user interface, when working on high-resolution displays, including the new Retina display on MacBook Pro.* Transparency panel improvements

Create and work with opacity masks more easily, thanks to the new Make Mask/Release button that now displays the masking functionality in the Transparency panel. True white canvas color
Set your Illustrator CS6 workspace canvas to white for fast color sampling when you need to quickly grab a pure white.

Tight Photoshop integration
Select one or multiple photos and automatically open them in Photoshop to perform detailed, pixel-level editing. See your results immediately back in Lightroom. Fast performance across platforms
Speed up day-to-day imaging tasks and process images faster with cross-platform 64-bit support for the latest Mac OS and Windows® operating systems.

Intuitive environment
Be more productive and efficient. The intuitive environment and controls of Lightroom are easy to master and let you quickly and smoothly accomplish your photography tasks.

AFTER EFFECTS
Create visual effects faster in Adobe® After Effects® CS6 software with Global Performance Cache, which optimizes and keeps your previews so you can beat deadlines instead of waiting for frame updates. Boost your creativity with a new 3D engine for text and shape extrusions, a 3D camera tracker, and variable-width mask feathering. Global Performance Cache

Create more in less time. With new Global Performance Cache, your previews are saved and ready when you are — no more waiting for the application to catch up. This revolution “under the hood” makes After Effects extremely fast and responsive by taking full advantage of the power of your computer’s hardware for visual effects and motion graphics. 3D Camera Tracker

Track 3D elements with complete control over depth of field, shadows, and reflections. Automatically analyze and place 3D track points onto 2D footage in the background while you work. Ray-traced, extruded text and shapes

Extrude fully ray-traced text and shapes natively and take full advantage of reflections, environment maps, and more.

Variable mask feathering
Precisely specify feather values at any place along a mask, not just at its vertices. Control falloff and shape of feathering, resulting in a big boost to creative flexibility.

Integration with Adobe Illustrator
Instantly convert Illustrator vector art (AI and EPS format) into shape layers. Easily animate vector art in 2D or extrude to 3D. Rolling Shutter Repair
Remove rolling shutter artifacts such as skew and wobble without forcing stabilization.

New and updated effects
Enhance your creativity with 90 new and updated built-in effects, including the complete 16- and 32-bit CycoreFX HD suite.

Avid AAF and FCP 7 XML file import with Pro Import AE
Import and work with files created in Apple Final Cut Pro 7 or earlier versions, as well as Avid Media Composer and Symphony, letting you integrate After Effects with professional production workflows.

DREAMWEAVER

Transfer large files more efficiently with improved FTP performance in Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS6 software. Updated Live View and Multiscreen Preview panels render HTML5 code so you can check your work. Fluid Grid Layout

Create cross-platform and cross-browser-compatible web designs using the CSS3-based Fluid Grid Layout system. Work faster and more efficiently as you develop projects using clean, industry-standard code for a wide range of devices and computers. Visually construct complex web designs and page layouts without getting buried in code. More about Fluid Grid Layout ›

Improved FTP performance
Save time uploading larger files with the reengineered multithreaded FTP transfer tool. Upload site files faster and more efficiently to speed production time.

Adobe Business Catalyst integration
Use the integrated Business Catalyst panel in Dreamweaver to connect and edit sites you build with Adobe Business Catalyst (available separately). Build e-commerce sites with the hosted solution.More about website builder › Enhanced jQuery Mobile support

Build native mobile apps for iOS and Android platforms using updated support for jQuery Mobile. Build apps to reach mobile audiences while streamlining your mobile development workflow. Updated PhoneGap support

Updated support for Adobe PhoneGap™ makes it easier to build and package native apps for Android and iOS. Create mobile apps by repurposing existing HTML code. Use PhoneGap emulators to check your designs.

CSS3 transitions
Animate changes to CSS properties as transitions to bring web designs to life. Maintain greater control of web design as you finesse page elements and create captivating effects.

Updated Live View
Test pages before publishing using updated Live View functionality. Live View now uses the latest version of the WebKit rendering engine to provide the ultimate in HTML5 support.

Updated Multiscreen Preview panel
Check the display of projects built for smartphones, tablets, and desktops with the updated Multiscreen Preview panel. This enhanced panel now enables you to check rendering of HTML5 content.

A marketing plan is an essential marketing tool for every small business. Use the guide on the following pages to answer these 10 questions: 1. Marketing Strategy: How will your marketing plan support your business goals? 2. Mission Statement: What are you trying to accomplish, and why? 3. Target Market: Who are you trying to reach with your marketing activities? 4. Competitive Analysis: Who are you up against, and where do you rank? 5. Unique Selling Proposition: What makes your business unique? 6. Pricing Strategy: What will you charge, and why?

7. Promotional Plan: How will you reach your target market? 8. Marketing Budget: How much money will you spend, and on what? 9. Action List: What tasks do you need to complete to reach your marketing goals? 10. Metrics: How are you implementing, and where can you improve?

When it comes to channel marketing strategy, the days of relying solely on word of mouth are over. The rise of social networks and sophisticated digital marketing platforms has rewritten the channel marketing strategy rules, even for technology solution providers that still haven’t created a formal marketing plan. Increasingly, businesses are shaping their opinions about their various technology options long before an IT services firm ever makes contact with a decision-maker. “If you look at how customers are buying, three-fifths of the buying cycle occurs before the prospect is even contacted,” said Jim Bindon, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Forsythe Technology, an IT infrastructure integrator. If the company is ready to get serious about its channel marketing strategy, here are seven best practices to consider: Don’t spread too thin

Its rationale was motivated by a lack of internal resources. That’s when Dadian decided to put her expertise in Internet technology to work on behalf of her company. The executive team defined specific simple priorities and then put theHubSpot digital marketing platform to the test to generate leads for the company. Powersolution.com did not engage in traditional advertising; instead the company focused on its Web presence, search engine optimization and other areas. “In the spirit of ‘keeping it real,’ we decided not to go full speed on all aspects of marketing,” Dadian said. “Bringing it home made sense to us.” So did keeping the program discrete and focused, she said, given Powersolution.com’s resource constraints. Formalize marketing processes and measure results

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks have helped make more cost-effective marketing resources readily available to smaller companies, but your company will need to spend some money developing and implementing its channel marketing strategy. Powersolution.com almost tripled its budget when it moved to HubSpot because it needed to come up with messaging, branding and corporate identity assets to make an impact. The tradeoff was that Powersolution.com can now closely measure the specific impact of its marketing spend. That mantra is echoed by Tim Hebert, CEO of Atrion Networking Corp., an integrator in Warwick, R.I. Atrion’s marketing efforts are aligned closely with the company’s three-year strategic plan, which is reviewed on a monthly basis. The marketing team focuses on several objectives: penetrating more deeply into existing accounts; creating a more precise profile of customers and target prospects; and strengthening Atrion’s brand.

Atrion has created a scoring system it calls its “relationship vitality” ranking. There are 22 different criteria considered, separate of revenue and margins from the account, Hebert said. One key metric is the willingness of the account to act as a highly visible reference. As Atrion became more focused on these rankings, the company closure rate has improved visibility, Hebert said. “A lot of solution providers look at sales and marketing as something mystical,” he said. “What we realize is that this all can be predictable.” But it also takes resources: Hebert estimates that through the efforts of one dedicated marketing resource and the entire executive team, Atrion completes up to 140 client interviews annually. Those interviews are conducted solely for the purpose of getting a better sense of their needs and interests. Focus on your brand, not your vendors’

Let’s be clear: All the solution providers interviewed for this story said that the channel should take better advantage of the marketing resources provided by technology vendor partners. But they also said a vendor’s brand should never become more important than your own. “Part of our strategy is to make sure we reach into our key partners at a corporate level,” said Forsythe’s Bindon. “We learn a lot from them, but they also learn a lot from us. We often get together a couple of times a year for corporate marketing-to-marketing briefings. We are stronger together.” But none of the solution providers relied solely on vendor marketing development funds. Forsythe, for example, publishes an internal magazine three times a year that explores technology business issues. That content is closely tied to a new website and social media platform that calls upon Forsythe experts to share their expertise. The company distributes approximately 5,000 copies of the magazine. At Atrion, vendor funding accounts for about 30% of its overall marketing budget. Even then, Atrion has “been able to convince suppliers to invest in the types of programs that make sense to us,” Hebert said Put the customer first

When deciding where to focus your channel marketing strategy, look at customers’ interests and determine where your company can fill gaps. Iron Bow Technologies LLC, a federal and commercial IT services and solution company in Chantilly, Va., relies on client-facing employees to identify customer pain points, said Juli Zeffert, vice president of marketing and communications. “Our initiatives forward solutions that will best solve [customer] challenges according to our practice leads, engineering staff and industry partners,” she said. A similar channel marketing strategy is central to Atrion’s mission. “Our overarching three-year goal is to gain a seat at the strategic table with our clients,” Hebert said. “We consider this to be one level above trusted adviser level.” Make every employee a brand ambassador

Even if your organization decides to create a separate marketing team, your company should not overlook the fact that every employee markets your company’s brand in some way through every customer or industry interaction. Iron Bow Technologies keyed in on this philosophy when it rebranded its corporate identity two years ago. It focused its marketing agenda internally on ensuring executive buy-in at the highest levels of the company and on making sure that all employees are acquainted with Iron Bow’s strategic roadmap. “Marketing is at its best when employees are proud of the company they work for and want to talk about it,” Zeffert said. Be sincere on social media

Social media can be an effective part of your channel marketing strategy, but every solution provider uses it differently. Atrion, for example, only updates its Twitter account with its most strategic customers in mind, which keeps them from being barraged with too much information. Forsythe and Iron Bow are positioning various members of their technical teams as expert sources on hot technology issues. Another solution provider, Techlinq in Riverdale, N.J., focuses almost exclusively on the LinkedIn social network, which it sees as a source of referrals and possible future hires. “When I have an opportunity to impress a new client, I use it because, frankly, it helps differentiate our company at this point,” said Anton Ruighaver, president and chief operations officer for Techlinq. If resources are a real issue, the best approach may be to limit social media, because it requires frequency, transparency and sincerity to be truly effective, solution providers said. “Right now, this is on the back burner, mostly due to lack of human resources,” said Powersolution.com’s Dadian. “I am reluctant to hire somebody to tweet on my company’s behalf. It is something we have never done before, and I cannot be sure it will be done properly. If something is not done right, I do not want to place my company’s reputation in the wrong hands and put it at risk. Plus, it feels fake.”

When in doubt, keep it local
Techlinq’s Ruighaver said his most effective marketing outreach continues to come in the form of unique door-to-door efforts targeted at specific prospects. Techlinq keeps things extremely local; even though it has sophisticated remote managed services capabilities, it believes in regular face-to-face contact with its clients. That philosophy drives what Ruighaver calls guerilla marketing campaigns. When the weather is warming, for example, Techlinq will send out a staff member to deliver collateral, along with a memorable and useful logo-branded gift. That requires careful identification and prioritization of different prospects, he said. Techlinq tests the effort with its third tier of client prospects first, makes refinements and then reaches out to its most coveted future customers. Ruighaver also continues to swear by the value of local referrals. “Be out there, be bold and ask for referrals when you feel you deserve them,” he said. “And don’t forget to say ‘thank you’ specifically and thoughtfully when they do help you. Things like that will endear you to your clients.”

Being a company with a track record indicative of a strong competitive advantage, DataLogics need to ensure that the competitive advantage is sustainable well into the future. To do so, they must look deeper into the source of a company’s competitive advantage using the five forces that determine industry profitability: supplier bargaining power, buyer bargaining power, the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitutes, and the intensity of rivalry between existing firms.

Apart from sustaining long term profitability, the firm aims at increasing their market share and clientele base. By adopting a very aggressive marketing strategy of personal interaction to bring in more buyers, the firm intends to hold a larger stake in the Apple and Adobe Premium Reseller space, at a time where Apple and Adobe products are growing in demand in the Chennai and Indian market.

Time in Industry:
When evaluating a company’s track record, I prefer to have at least ten years of data over which the company has operated in the same industry, and if the industry is cyclic, I would like enough years of data to capture a full industry cycle. This usually means evaluating a company’s operating history over the same period used to calculate the company’s demonstrated earnings power. Most often, ten years of history is sufficient, except in the case of some companies whose profits largely depend on the price of some commodity like oil or steel, or when the last ten years have witnessed abnormally stable economic growth. Operating Profit Margin:

I calculate a company’s operating profit margin as the ten-year average of the ratio of operating profit (adjusted for non-recurring items) to revenue. I assess profitability using operating margin rather than profit margin because operating margin is a better metric of competitive advantage; this is because profit margin is distorted by differences in tax rate and interest expense that while important, do not relate directly to competitive advantage. The operating profit margin indicates the proportion of the value created for a company’s buyers (measured by revenue) that is captured by the company – as opposed to being competed away – and is therefore a useful measure of the extent of a company’s competitive advantage. Sometimes operating margin can be distorted in industries where a company makes its profits by taking on credit risk (banks) or event risk (insurance).

In this case, operating margins may be very high over long time periods (sometimes decades), until some event occurs (usually an economic downturn or natural disaster) where losses wipe out many years (or even decades) of earnings. Prior to an economic downturn, such a company’s operating margin might seem to be evidence of a competitive advantage, but when a recession hits, most of the profits end up being illusory. The banking industry is a good example of this; in the 1980’s a banking crisis wiped out many years of cumulative earnings, and a similar situation occurred in 2008, where incidentally the bond insurance industry also imploded. These types of business models are aptly described as “picking up nickels in front of steam rollers”; the profits may look impressive for a while, but if you stumble, it’s all over.Fortunately these business models can be easily spotted, as they are often characterized by a relatively low return on assets, which brings us to our next metric.

STRENGTHS

* Control over supplier and distributors
* Product sales
* Strategic alliances – marketing partnerships
* Marketing competence – reputation for brand development which gains customers through well-planned and carefully executed marketing strategies Extensive content access based on valuable partnerships in the recording industry Innovation skills and creativity – stream of new product releases * Product design and features – ease of use, high quality format – clear product differentiation * Suite of products for range of applications – iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, iMac * Internal software and hardware development – R&D

* Devoted base of customers – niche audience
* Customer relationships – responsiveness to customer feedback * Positive brand image, includes counter-cultural appeal
* Strong financial performance – strong sales, cash flows, and net income, low debt, controlled inventory

WEAKNESSES

* Historically incompatible software – computer and digital music format – users want compatibility * Less than 5% of the computer market
* Dependence on Steve Jobs for his personality, vision, negotiating prowess, and relationship skills * Need to build management team and
conduct succession planning External to the company, Apple’s most pressing challenges emanate from the industry and competitor environments. A multitude of existing and new competitors is poised to battle for market share and requires continuous attention from the company’s leaders. * Potential collaborations between competitors and content providers to offer integrated solutions that produce more value or exclude Apple from access to content. * The company has not develop expertise in Linux OS

Pricing of the software suites is a bit on the higher side for individual buyers Adobe has a wide range of products but many of them are not known to public

* OPPORTUNITIES

* Retail stores – brand exposure
* International growth and expansion
* Upgrades for installed music base
* Improve compatibility
* Licensing brand name with accessory manufacturers
* Web technology and marketing
* New ways to integrate electronic devices and change the way they are used in customers’ daily lives * Product line extensions and new content distribution systems * Consumer demand for “custom” features

* More customer programs
* Consumer image consciousness
* Strategic partnerships – cooperative marketing
* Growth in new user segments
* Complementors to interaction
* Consumer/corporate needs merging – tools and features to appeal to alternate markets

THREATS

Strong competitors for market share
Very large competitors with good reputations and extensive resources Pricing pressures as products mature and competition increases Inability to please more diverse customer base
Inability to continue marketing success for broader range of products for mainstream customers Technology and entertainment industries are constantly and rapidly changing
Collaborations between competitors and content providers
The biggest threat is the change, as market is growing, changes are taking place so adobe has to adapt the change
Other companies are coming into graphics editing segment.

SWOT Analysis Summay|
Strength| 1. Strong Brand Equity and popularity
2. Strong Market position in digital media business
3. Innovation and Creativity
4. First company to specialize in graphic designing software

Weakness| 1.The company has not develop expertise in Linux OS 2. Pricing of the software suites is a bit on the higher side for individual buyers 3.Adobe has a wide range of products but many of them are not known to public| Opportunity| 1. Acquisition of small companies, within the same market segment 2. Growth of online market segment

3.With the growth of social media facebook, google+ and others there is growing market for photo and video editing hobbies.| Threats| 1.The biggest threat is the change, as market is growing, changes are taking place so adobe has to adapt the change 2.Other companies are coming into graphics editing segment.|

The internship at DataLogics gave me an insight into professionalism and the world of sales and marketing. As an intern, I was first exposed to the professional way of dealing with Software products of Adobe and the various products of apple. This gave me a new perspective, different from that of a customer, which I was till that time.

I gained a whole range of skills from the internship.
* My communication skills widely improved, after interacting with the representatives of institutions and my own colleagues. * I was able to develop a strong work ethic and understood the deifference between a formal environment and workplace and casual situations. * Teamwork Skills is an important part in a marketing team. I learnt to work well with others and how to push my ideas without compromising the rest of the team. * Taking initiative is the first step in selling a product. Just identifying the product isn’t enough, finding a way to sell it to them, closes the deal. * My Interpersonal Skills were able to grow and I started to relate well to others. * Problem-solving Skills and analytical skills were improved as I worked in the field and practically facing issues. * My computer skills and technical Skills were improved during the internship as I also was taught how to use the softwares, apart from marketing them. * My self-confidence, tactfulness and creativity improved. The internship revealed that, to secure strategic success, it will remain important for DataLogics to be fanatically protective of the Apple and Adobe brand image and adequately invest in the company’s competitive advantages in innovation and marketing. Some suggestions for achieving this include:

* Continually invest in research and development to stay ahead of and lead radical product and technology discoveries. Because the personal computer, consumer electronics, and mobile communication industries are characterized by rapid technological advances, the company’s ability to compete successfully is heavily dependent upon a continual and timely flow of competitive products, services, and technologies to the marketplace. * It also needs to define and reach the customer base more broadly and more deeply. Enhancing security, quality, and image will increase ita appeal to more consumer groups. * Expanding the company’s distribution network to effectively reach more of its targeted customers and provide them with a high-quality sales and post-sales support experience will serve to increase market penetration.. Vigilant management of costs, to maintain pricing flexibility and improve competitive position relative to low-priced competitors. * Develop the top management team and a succession strategy to reduce over-dependence on one individual to advance the interests of the company.

As with any worthwhile experience, developing a successful internship experience requires thought and planning. * Meet regularly with the intern to answer questions and to give guidance and feedback. * Keep them in the loop through emails, memos or staff meetings. * Increase the duration of the internship

* Integrate the internship experience and the academic happenings of class tasks. * Ask students if there are specific areas they would like to learn. When possible, arrange “personal learning opportunities” for one on one discussions with company executives and college mentors to help them begin internship. * When possible, provide professional networking opportunities to help students gain additional insights into this career and also increase future employment contacts. * Provide a clear job/project description for the work experience * Define expectations of job and related tasks

* Clearly identify inconsistencies of performance; make suggestions for improvement