Beancounters at Context have said that distributors across Europe have done well in the third quarter and should see more growth.
An analysis of how distribution has performed across Europe in the third quarter from Context showed that there was 7.1 percent year-on-year growth in Q3.
That growth can be added to 5.4 percent in the second quarter and the 4.7 percent generated in the first.
VIP Computers has announced the appointment of a new Business Development Manager
Graham Herschell has more than ten years experience in the IT industry and is said to bring VIP a huge range of skills and expertise to assist in growing the firm’s customer base as well as increasing sales from existing customers.
He has previously worked for Bridgfords, responsible for business development and Opal Telecom where he started off as a mobile and data support engineer moving onto team manager looking after a large team of office and field based engineers.
Herschell said he was “excited” to be working for the distie and boasted he had built up a strong knowledge of how to promote business as well as spotting opportunities for potential deals and getting them closed.
Anthony McKenzie, Sales Manager at VIP Computers said Herschell would be “instrumental in managing many of our key accounts moving forward and bringing more on board.”
Resellers must begin to start building wider mobility portfolios and get cosy with disties in a bid to exploit the latest opportunities within the market, Computerlinks has said.
The company, which earlier this week announced an agreement in the UK and Germany with MobileIron, said the recent BYOD trend had been good for starting conversations about mobility strategies organisations.
However, Dominic Wordsworth, product group manager at the company pointed out that the industry was now moving beyond just securing devices to considering how they can make staff not only mobile but also productive.
“MDM was the ‘knee jerk’ reaction by many to BYOD (both vendors and end-users) – securing the devise is an important start, but enabling and managing applications is the real challenge,” he told ChannelEye.
He pointed out that the companies with insight who initiated pilot mobility projects were now starting to move into company-wide rollouts.
“[This gives] the channel plenty of opportunities to get involved as businesses need to evaluate what applications are needed, who needs them and why. Vanity projects such as handing out iPads to executives are becoming more scarce, as organisations are becoming to demand real value from all of their devices,” he added.
Many channel partners are offering mobility products which allow IT departments to manage devices, however, Wordsworth claimed it was becoming clear that security was not the only factor at play here.
“To exploit the latest opportunities in the market, resellers should be building wider mobility portfolios around devices, applications and content. Focusing on one aspect of the mobility pitch won’t bring in those high-value contracts as organisations will generally be looking for the whole package rather than just a point solution.
“One way resellers can get ahead of the competition is by working with distributors that can offer extra services to help companies get mobile more easily, such as pre-sales support which can gives them access to current market expertise and knowledge,” he said.
Computerlinks claims that its new partnership with MobileIron will further continue to help resellers to drive their customers to deliver useful business applications to users over enhanced mobile networks to a secure endpoint, whatever the device.
It has also promised training for its channel partners around the new announcement, as well as helping them take advantage of its highly qualified pre and post sales consultants to support their own teams.
Companies are looking further into China in a bid to boost business.
This week both Avnet and Microsoft have made railroads into the country. The gossip grapevine suggests that Microsoft has decided to extend its selling channels for its Surface RT tablets, which it previously sold through two distributors- its online store and chain store for electronics, Suning.
The giant had not been able to go through further channels as a result of an exclusive distie deal with Suning, but now sources have said that this deal expired in February, paving the way for Microsoft to pick up new channels. It is also claimed that Microsoft was unhappy about the way Suning had dealt with sales, failing to push Surface and get an advertising network around it.
In a bid to boost sales its now, according to the WPDang, turning to four new distribution partners aboard. These include PC Mall, Sundan, One Zero and 360buy.
And its not just Microsoft moving into Chinese circles. Today distie Avnet announced that it was buying Hong Kong’s RTI Holdings, RTI Technology China, Eastele Technology China, and DSP Solutions, value-added distributors of telecom equipment and related components in Hong Kong and China.
The company said that it wanted a piece of RTI as a result of its “focused technical expertise,” as well as its “strong presence” in the Chinese market.
It is hoped that the purchase will help the company break into the Chinese market, which it has so far struggled to do.
Despite claims that Microsoft is planning to offer discounts on Windows 8 OEM prices over in Taiwan, disties and resellers have said that they have not seen the same happening in the UK.
However, they have hinted that if the rumours are correct, there could be a knock on effect on UK sales later on in the year.
The comments come as DigiTimes reported that Microsoft would lower OEM licensing costs by offering a discount of $20 for 11.6-inch and below notebooks that are equipped with touch screens.
Sources and vendors said this was because Windows had fallen short of expectations in driving demand mainly because its notebooks and tablets were too expensive
For below 10.8-inch notebooks, tablets and hybrids, Microsoft is said to offer the $20 discount plus free Office 2013 software, from the beginning of April, while retail prices for 11.6-inch touchscreen Windows 8 notebooks were expected to be reduced beginning June to reflect the discount.
However, a big distie who works closely with Microsoft in the UK said that it had not seen evidence of this.
“We haven’t heard of any reductions but we can confirm that these are failing to shift,” he told ChannelEye.
“I suppose if the news is coming from the Far East we can expect to see similar announcements in the next few weeks/months.
“These sources are rarely wrong and it would make sense given the way these products are failing to fly off the shelves.”
One reseller was less convinced, telling ChannelEye: “Sales are slow but I don’t think they are at a pace to send Microsoft into a price slashing frenzy just yet.
“It’s invested a lot of money in these products as well as us, its resellers, so it’s going to hold out. Of course that puts pressure on us to sell, but c’est la vie.”
Despite “rough conditions” in the channel, VIP Computers has said it will continue to push on with its channel strategy and look to hire more senior management in the future.
Speaking with ChannelEye, the distie said channel partners will also continue to see support.
The comments follow an announcement earlier in the week where it said it had appointed two new team members, showing that even in times of economic hardship it continued “to buck the trend”.
The appointments follow the company gobbling up sister company Realtime and unveiling a £1.6 million warehouse expansion.
Frazer Hamilton joins as a product manager and it is hoped his previous record of dealing with major accounts such as Samsung, Sony and LG where he had a similar role within the distribution sector, will help boost business at VIP.
Also joining the ranks is Amanda Baxter, who has taken a position in the company’s accounts department after working for businesses such as Morrison’s and Yorkshire Bank.
“These two new appointments are fully in-line with our plans moving forward,” a spokesperson said, speaking with ChannelEye.
“The appointment of Fraser to look after 600 products was vital for VIP to continue its focus on components and deliver on two key areas for the business, focus and flexibility. Having Fraser in place gives us the focus we need for this product sector, but also much needed flexibility to deliver what our vendors and customers need.”
The spokesperson added that channel partners will be given the “support they need” to get products out to end users.
Speaking about its future, VIP hinted that it would be hiring again in the coming months as well as branching out other parts of its business.
“We will continue to bring on product managers as we expand our vendor base in the PC gaming peripherals market,” it said.
“We’re also continuing to keep a close eye on the cloud services market and will be appointing employees to this market once we have determined a clear route to market for our existing channel partners.”
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