IT@TT - Online

Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems is the third largest US desktop software company. Annual revenues exceed $1.2 billion. Craig Tegel, Managing Director, Pacific and South Asia, discusses with Amrita Ghosh, IT@TT, the present operations and future plans of the company.

IT@TT: What do you aim to achieve? Who are your end users?

CT: Our customers have traditionally been graphic design professionals. But as more and more people across organisation are involved in publishing. And with the wide usage of Acrobat and PDF our customers are now anyone involved in publishing. Our products allow our customers to create high quality brochures, news letters, magazines, newspapers, web sites, videos. Almost anything in any format that they may want to use to communicate their message to their target audience.

IT@TT: How is Adobe changing movement and documentation of published information?

CT: Acrobat and the PDF (Portable Document Format) has revolutionised the way people can communicate. You can now send a PDF document created from any application to anyone in the world and they can view and print the document just by using the free Reader. The document will look just like the original. With the use of Acrobat Exchange, a person can add notes, highlight any changes or even approve the document with a digital signature. The compression in Acrobat means that very large documents can now be made much smaller so that they can be sent via email or over the web.

IT@TT: Adobe is investing in its Pacific Rim operations. Why?

CT: Asia Pacific is a growth area for Adobe. The company has invested in people and marketing funds to ensure that we can support our customers and grow the business in this region.

IT@TT: Could you tell us a little about your investment ventures?

CT: Adobe has just announced that we will be investing US$50 million into our R&D facility in NOIDA (Uttar Pradesh, India) over the next 2 years.

IT@TT: How is Adobe Systems India faring?

CT: We have recently put a lot of resources into India and South Asia. Last August, we appointed a Channel Account Manager and Business Development Manager in Delhi along with an Anti-Piracy Consultant. We have also beefed up our marketing commitment. And have started to run many more seminars and events for our customers to see first hand the benefits of our web, print and Acrobat technologies.

We are committed to ensuring that people are using legal software. We have in place a number of anti-piracy initiatives. And will continue to push this message to the market.

IT@TT: How do you market and sell Adobe products in India?

CT: Adobe has three distributors in India. And a large numbers of computer hardware and software resellers spread across the country. All Adobe product sales go through the channel. Therefore, we rely on their support and focus on our products. In turn we need to ensure that we give them the best service and support.

IT@TT: Adobe Systems India also develops products. How much of Premiere 6 was developed in India?

CT: Nothing was developed in India for Premiere 6.

IT@TT: Is Premiere 6.0 new or is it an update?

CT: Premiere is a product that we've been selling for a number of years. Premiere 6 has a number of new features that makes this product awesome. We now offer Digital Video in and Web out. This means customers can get their videos and clips up onto the web really easily and in a suitable format. We have some new 3D features and a great range of other new features.

IT@TT: Why did you feel it needed a high-profile launch. What are your market expectations of the product?

CT: The launch was to make sure that customers are aware that Premiere 6 is here and what the new features are. India is a big video market. And we already have many users of Premiere. So we expect that with the new features in Premiere 6 we'll have many new users of this technology in the future.

IT@TT: You held road shows in Chennai and Mumbai for Premiere 6. Are you planning similar events elsewhere in India?

CT: We're running different seminars in different cities in India every quarter. We tend to plan these events around the type of product and the cities that are big users of that technology.

IT@TT: Where do you see Adobe a few years from now?

CT: In a few years from now, I see Adobe not only as the leader in professional publishing applications but also the leader in web tools and of course, the electronic paper market. We have some great new technologies such as InDesign and GoLive which are just starting to make their mark. Over the coming years they're going to take over the competition. Network publishing is going to be the next wave of publishing. We as the leaders of the new wave will be heavily involved in helping our customers to take advantage of network publishing in their organisations.

IT@TT: Could you share with our readers some of your favorite web sites and why you like them?

CT: Some of my favourite sites are www.adobe.com (of course), www.microsoft.com (sometimes you just have to), www.travel.com (if I need to think about having a break), www.disney.com. There's some great stuff on that site for my kids.

Interviewed By Amrita Ghosh
[email protected]

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