The refurbishment products industry is a boon for organizations endeavoring to minimize their IT infrastructure investment with-out compromising performance as well as individuals who wish to get their hands on a configuration far superior than their budget. It's a tricky segment, where refurbishment companies that merely seek to make quick bucks will sink without a trace. Contrastingly, organizations that place customer satisfaction above monetary benefits can withstand the test of time. Proving this with its 21 years of legacy is Bangalore-based WorthIT. The company serves as a one-stop-shop for all IT needs, offering everything from brand-new IT products (PCs, laptops, servers, IT peripherals, accessories, mobile phones, tablets and many more) as well as refurbished (undergone a repair or replacement of a spare) and open-box (used only for demo purposes) products.

Kickstarted its journey as an IT service provider, the company has established a PAN India network of proficient engineers who go to customers' site to solve their problems within 24 hours, unlike others who attempt to route the warrantee to the OEMs. "When we noticed that many resellers were selling the old computer spares used by corporates as brand-new products (which obviously failed to give expected performance), we decided to enter this segment and offer refurbished products to top corporates with warrantee," recalls Manjunath H. V, CEO, WorthIT. Thanks to its keen eye for quality, the company gradually broadened its activities to offer rental, training and recently the sales of brand-new products ­ all without the funding from any venture capitalists.

Since most e-Commerce companies concentrate purely on consumer products, they don't provide any GST input. Offering both consumer and commercial products, WorthIT provides GST invoice to organizations, whether they buy 1000 refurbished PCs or a single brand-new laptop with a particular configuration. The multiple partnerships it has nurtured with several OEMs (HP, DELL, Lenovo and Acer) over the past quarter century, has endowed WorthIT with a ready-to-go stock that allows it to deliver client's order immediately, whether it's 500 brand-new laptops or used desktops, which is impossible for most other similar service providers in India. As it deals with these brands in thousands, this partnership also bestows the company with a price advantage, which it happily passes on to its customers.

A-Grade Products
While most companies use multiple quality checkpoints as just an advertisement tactic,

WorthIT analyzes every product for almost eight hours through its licensed software covering close to 180 different tests and attaches the detailed QC report with the product to give its customers peace of mind. Usually, only 20 percent of the products make it through the test and land in the WorthIT website. These A-Grade products are not only functionally strong but also aesthetically pleasing, without even any white dots or patches on them.

The remaining 80 percent are sold to small resellers at a lesser price. Besides replacing all the hard disks by default, WorthIT also replaces the batteries that fail to give more than one and half hours of backup power. "We don't sell anything less than fifth generation. Anything purchased from WorthIT will be an upgraded product with good battery backup and a new hard disk ensuring great speed and performance," remarks Manjunath H. V.

Despite all these measures, some products might face problems. Hence, WorthIT's 160 people strong team makes the support process as hassle-free as possible. "If the service request raised by the customer couldn't be solved within eight working hours, an engineer will attend the call. Any part that needs to be replaced will be replaced within 24 working hours or a replacement will be offered," explains Manjunath H. V. If WorthIT gets repeated calls for the same product, its service team automatically replaces the product, even without any replacement request from the customer.

Taking note of the increasing levels of rampant corruption in the procurement sector of corporates, the company has partnered with financial companies to provide its customers and resellers with purchase cards that only work with WorthIT. "When they log in, they will see a discounted price that further reduces as the quantity of purchase increases. Our fixed price list minimizes the chances of corruption," explains Manjunath H. V.

Anything purchased from WorthIT will be an upgraded product with good battery backup and a new hard disk ensuring great speed and performance

Future Roadmap
WorthIT is all set to launch its mobile app, which will ease the process of raising a service request by facilitating its customers to merely scan the product's barcode instead of typing out all the product detail. The company is also in the process of designing a work table with a separate light system suitable for work environment, chair, laptop, UPS, Wi-Fi and an exclusive closure, which would be offered on a rent-basis for Rs.5000.

WorthIT is gearing up to make a fierce foray into the B2C sector by establishing eight new showrooms across Bangalore to facilitate the customers to experience the product, whether it's brand new, open box or used. Operating in a hybrid online/offline model, these show-room franchises would give the customers an additional discount if they purchase online with a coupon code. Currently, the company levies its interest primarily on enhancing the brand's visibility and anticipates that this endeavor would bring in a revenue of Rs.100 crores per annum from next year. "Our complete focus is on ensuring customer delight; the numbers will follow," concludes Manjunath H. V.

Manjunath H. V, CEO
A strong proponent of the customer-first policy, Manjunath H.V has always been a service-minded professional, which has bestowed him with thousands of loyal customers. Having commenced his career a printer engineer at a Wipro authorized service center in 1997, he couldn't gain much industry exposure during his less than two-year-long tenure at the company. Manjunath HV made his own path by learning from his experience and has grown exponentially over the past 21 years.

Offerings: Laptops, Desktops, Servers, IT Peripherals, IT Accessories, Mobile Phones, Tablets and many more.

Locations: Domlur ­ Bangalore (headquarter), Jaya Nagar (software division), Kodihalli (production unit) and Mumbai.