People drive Dell forward

It‘s all about the people.  This is what Barry Bunyi believes in. And his people can attest that he actually “lives” this conviction.

Bunyi is the current director and country manager of Dell Philippines. For the past six years, he has devoted himself in making sure that people in Dell are dedicated to serve the consumers. And this year, he is gearing the company to reach a broader market and touch the lives of more people.

For many years now, Dell has claimed a significant portion of the PC market in the country by serving customers mainly in the corporate level. With the recent establishment of Dell Philippines, the company is bracing itself to enter new markets – the Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) sector which is currently growing in the entrepreneurial world and the consumer sector, those purchasing for personal use.

Right now, 60 percent of the company’s market is mostly in Metro Manila and the major cities in Luzon. Dell plans to expand their presence throughout the country not only through sales.

Dell is an American-based company and has its main operations back in the US. The head of Dell has reported how the current US financial crisis continues to slow down operations and sales there. But amidst this circumstance, Bunyi looks at Dell Philippines in a positive angle. By far there has been no slow down in the industry. With the enlarging market from the SMBs and the consumers, the crisis in US holds no effect of its sales here.  Demands have even increased since their last quarter.

Being unaffected by the mother companies’ troubles does not mean Dell Philippines could not care less.  The company does not work on new market grounds alone. The company is in for continuous improvement. The Dell has increased their production in their notebooks and has added 50 percent more models. A broader variety of choices are now offered to many kinds of people for their different needs.

Dell products are more than PCs. Enterprises are also offered such as blades and storages. Their storage called Equilogic is a good storage solution for business operations and is cost effective. Dell also works with other markets like the government in manufacturing, gaming and banking, aside from the growth engine, which is the BPO sector.

Working on networks

Dell started in the country as a small business. It was only this year that Dell Philippines set foot in the bigger arena. And here they plan to stay and grow the company. Yet there are still no company managed retail outlets to deliver their products. Bunyi has said that, “the best way to reach the wide-spread market especially the SMB is through selling through partners.”

“ More than having good marketing, we want to make sure that when they see our products in TV ads or billboards, when they go to a computer retailing center, they will find our products and be able to purchase them readily and be assisted in knowing more about our products,” he said. Working with networks is not a new thing here in the Philippines. Businesses flourish not just by the products a company offers or how well operations are done. Building good relationship with other people and businesses is also a key.

Partner direct

Earlier this year, Bunyi has spoken about choosing retail partners to serve the local market. After successfully launching Ironfort as one of their partners, Dell Philippines has once again found another comrade in the IT Industry. Just this October, the company launched Innovista Technologies Inc. their new strategic partner.

Innovista caters to more than 400 dealers through out the country and is well known to deliver efficient products (computers, hardware and peripherals) at reasonable prices. And soon the company shall be distributing Dell-branded products and provide services to Dell and its costumers in the Philippines. “This partnership is a symbiotic relationship of growth for both companies,” said Bunyi. As Dell enlarges its territories in the large business world, Innovista’s range of product offerings and solutions widens as well.

Driven by the people

The driving forces of the company to consciously expand are their costumers. “We value our customers,” he said. It is in the company’s interest to provide the needs of the people using their products. Much of the new releases in the Consumer laptops were formed from the inputs and feedbacks of the customers. Inspiron series allows personalization of computers and setting them to blend with the consumer’s individuality. Small notebooks have also been created to cater to younger users. Dell also has the capability to make built to order computers and have preconfigured systems as well for users’ convenience.

Bunyi is in a roll to make Dell Philippines at its best and be grounded still. More than pushing people to do their jobs, he is there to address issues and coach the people under him. In the market area, he himself spends time to meet with clients and get to know their concerns. Dell Philippines have set up their phone-in services to get feedbacks and to give solutions to their clients. “Listening is important, because it is the only way we can understand how to keep the passion in our people to work and how to best deliver the needs of the customers, “ he says.