Having just finished reading the story on conflicts in the reseller channel, I must add my “”two cents”” worth of opinion. Although the story focused on storage, this is a problem throughout the reseller sector.
I have worked in the reseller sector and based on my experience, the conflicts are
created more by the resellers than by the manufacturers.
It is simply a case of too many vendors chasing the same market.
As an example, in February 2002 I did an informal study of the number of resellers in the Montreal area. My sources of information were the Web sites of the “”Big 3″” manufacturers, IBM, Compaq, and HP.
What I found was that in the Montreal area alone, there were 100 resellers. This number does not include those with multiple locations. ie Compucentre, Bureau en Gros and Futureshop.
Although forecasts show that IT expenditures should increase this year, the increase will only be approximately one-third of what it has been in the past. Let’s face it, the “”pie”” can only be divided so many times.
Perhaps the resellers should closely examine their strengths and focus on them. All too often a reseller presents itself as everything to everyone. In reality, especially in the storage market, this is a recipe for failure.
Rather than wasting energy complaining, resellers should begin establishing alliances that would compliment their core competencies.
Wake up guys! This is not “”Rocket Science””, it is simply sound sales and marketing strategy
