Harish Kohli - President & MD
Company Of The Year 2020, Acer India, in its 21st year of existence, has become a supporter for combatants who are fighting to survive during a pandemic in the role of a technology partner with an unmatched range of products and services.
One of the first few companies to realize the importance of transforming itself into a technology-first business, Acer has been working with the basic premise of creating meaningful innovations, beyond just creating new technologies and solutions. With aim of eventually enabling consumers and enterprises to do more, do better, and do faster in a simple but powerful manner.
Acer has moved beyond just being a computing-only brand and strived in the league as a brand leading the smart technology innovations built to improve the world of business. As Harish Kohli, President and Managing Director, Acer India revealed, "The fact is, it's no longer enough for a PC company to just make PCs. Acer has evolved much beyond our capabilities which includes our path-breaking products with innovative technologies like advanced cooling solutions, ergonomic design technology like Ezel hinge, Mil-Std tough PCs, complete display solutions, cloud, IoT, etc." Acer can deliver a single retailer total technology ecosystem like no other.
Acer is setting new benchmarks and breaking new grounds to realize its mission in India i.e. to make technology easier to use and more affordable to everyone across the country. Harish Kohli is the man of the hour, leading a renowned name in Indian laptop space today.
In the words of a leader who has impacted Acer in many roles and grown with the brand, "Over the years, we have witnessed successes which words cannot do justice to. Moving from PC centric company to PC+ with smart devices, Acer has built new categories like creators, gaming, IoT devices and more."
The journey to 'Company of The Year 2020' is filled with milestones Acer reached through its lifetime like No.1 brand for multiple years across multiple segments, breaker of technology barriers by deploying one of the fastest supercomputers in India to help research and disaster management, supplying IT infrastructure to critical government projects right from defence to mega initiatives like to support children with laptops. Assisting the company's vision at every step, the Indian Acer team has set examples for the Acer country offices across the globe with best practices and business processes while offering unmatched customer satisfaction.
Acer dedicates to optimizing the existing products, continuously innovating to bring in new product lines and build new categories, integrating cloud platforms and services by developing software and combine with hardware.
The company is bringing 5G tech-enabled laptops to the market that offers much faster data download and upload speed. For AI-based technology, Acer is bringing customized solutions across industries. Through AI and IoT, we are determined to offer a smarter and more convenient lifestyle for people. Acer Is also venturing into lifestyle and healthcare spaces and growing into a multi-pronged global tech conglomerate.
Consumers have always been dedicated to Acer as a brand since they believe in getting a better service, higher quality, and innovative technology products which are first to market than anyone else. Offering the best NPS or recommendation scores, which is represented in customer's will to buy Acer laptops again when it's time for an upgrade, Acer has built its unique and trustworthy reliability and support system.
"While I don't like to pat myself on the back, I do think back to check, which decisions helped me in reaching the breakthrough and if I could have done something better next time. The key is to understand what brought us the win then work on it make it better next time and constantly ask questions on how we can improve," avowed the leader in charge of trailblazer Acer India.
"To achieve great results, it is important to stay inspired both for me, and my team! Empowering the teams, encouraging creativity and collaboration, building entrepreneurship culture and making them feel valued while giving them a clear direction on the future helps them to enjoy work while staying focused on the job," shared Harish, on how he and his team keep the motivation levels maintained.
Technology has enabled businesses to operate as usual in 2020, providing secure access to data, enterprise applications, virtual meetings, cloud conferencing, and virtual/mixed/augmented reality where leaders are ensured undisrupted deliveries. While remote working is a blessing of technology amidst social distancing restrictions, they expect change to continue in the coming years.
The pandemic has transformed people's lives on an unprecedented scale, impacted every industry, and brought technology to the forefront. The need for innovation is greater than ever, driven by new challenges that are more disruptive than most have ever faced. Moving towards their ultimate goal of assisting customers in the digital transformation journey, the plans in the pipeline for Acer India are to collaborate with companies, governments, educational institutes rely on technology and play a critical role in this transformation.
"I strongly believe each challenge and crisis poses an opportunity and we have the best team to ride over this and come out stronger than ever while setting new benchmarks and breaking new grounds. Hence, I would undoubtedly accredit the success of Acer India to our diligent team. That said, our loyal customers and our tireless stride towards innovation have also helped us scale the heights of success," Harish emphasized.
He further wrote, "I believe, not giving up is the key to remain relevant. Take the plunge and persist. If one stays focused and self-motivated, one can succeed. Moreover, developing the skill set to be a problem-solver and creating an environment where everyone can coexist are also vital aspects remaining inspired. In parallel, IQ and EQ are equally important to be a successful leader."
Acer plans to be a key player in the new normal, providing the latest technology that helps break barriers to improve the lives of consumers. Their wide array of products are positioned to play a critical role in the digital transformation of the customers and this distributed working and learning environment PCs play a critical role in staying productive, working, learning, gaming and being connected.
As a large brand, Acer's priority lies in providing a safe experience be it buying a PC with their Omni channel experience, using the PC by providing anti-microbial technology, maintaining the PC with remote diagnostics to extended warranty options, customers enjoy a hassle-free experience with Acer.
"I have always believed in the saying – Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. It has inspired and taught me that in this incredibly fast-moving industry innovation is the only yardstick of survival," Harish advised.
He added, "One more aspect that new entrepreneurs need to remember is that a healthy work-life balance is very important, especially in this tough time. To maintain a healthy work-life balance, it is pivotal to separate your personal and professional lives without allowing one to encroach upon the other. The mantra to do this is to primarily focus on health!"
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