PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
We round up the latest channel partnerships, distribution deals, partner programmes and more from the IT and tech industry.
XFX APPOINTS TARGET AS OFFICIAL UK DISTRIBUTOR
Target Components has been appointed as the official UK distributor of XFX’s products.
The distributor now stocks XFX’s PC power supplies, covering the manufacturer’s modular and fully wired lines to suit reseller and end-user requirements.
XFX PSUs are 80+ certified up to 92% efficiency, from the Platinum certified XTS models and Gold XTR Models which come with a 5 year warranty, to the Bronze certified TS range, which come with a 3 year warranty as standard.
Speaking of the appointment, XFX’s UK sales manager, Gavin Pitt, explained: “We’ve chosen Target for several reasons, not least because of their ability to address specific markets, namely independent resellers and systems integrators.”
“But we’re also extremely impressed with Target’s commitment to offering their customers unique opportunities – the Custom PC Builder is a fantastic tool and it highlights XFX’s great-value power supplies to a much wider audience by getting end-users involved in the design of their own PCs. Target’s passion for offering their customers the very best value and quality falls perfectly with our own ethos.”
Simon Hogg, Target’s Head of Purchasing, added: “The addition of XFX to our brand roster is fantastic – they’re a very highly-regarded, established and well-known manufacturer, and that only comes with offering products at a quality and pricepoint both resellers and end-users are willing to pay for. With such a broad product range that caters for systems builders as well as the more hardcore gamers and enterprise purposes, XFX has a great opportunity to spread its customer base at Target.”
COMPTIA LAUNCHES NEW INDUSTRY STANDARD FOR MANAGED IT SOLUTION PROVIDERS
Continuing its push to expand use of best business practices by technology companies, CompTIA, the non-profit association for the technology industry, has released the second in its planned series of channel standards.
The CompTIA Channel Standard for Managed IT Solution Providers is available to all at no cost, and is geared toward companies engaged in delivering technology solutions to customers via a managed services model. It provides a checklist of best practices that businesses can follow to improve the quality and value of services for their customers.
Estelle Johannes, director of Member Communities UK at CompTIA, said: “Standards provide channel organisations with an opportunity to be the best they can be and give end users the reassurance that they are purchasing from a trusted business.”
The release of the CompTIA Channel Standard for Managed IT Solutions Providers occurs at a time when many companies in the MSP market anticipate growth in their services business. An upcoming CompTIA study reveals that 61 per cent of small technology companies, 47 per cent of mid-sized firms and 52 per cent of large companies expect to see high revenue growth in their managed services business over the next two years.
“With so much expected growth in MSPs, our new Standard can help support their expansion. Standards benefit everyone in the IT channel and we urge the channel market to take full advantage,” Johannes said. “We encourage MSPs to use our channel standards as a guide to help them conduct an honest, thoughtful evaluation of their business’s readiness to take advantage of new opportunities.”
ENTATECH LAUNCHES NEW RESELLER E-COMMERCE SITE
Entatech UK has launched a newly designed e-commerce website, Entaonline.com, for it’s reseller partners. Entaonline is now 16 years old and in it’s sixth generation.
Entatech’s in-house design and development team, Entamedia, have spent nearly two years working on the remodelling of the site, to ensure the best possible user interface and purchasing experience for Entatech’s customer base. Through their BETA testing phase, the website was opened up to a number of selected resellers to test the functionality and overall usage of the site.
Dave Stevinson, MD Entatech UK Ltd, commented: “A lot of brainpower and planning went into designing Version 6 of Entaonline. The critical features for designing the platform for our resellers was simplicity and speed. A trade only platform is fundamentally different from a traditional consumer site.”
Users will experience a simpler and faster use, with real time stock and pricing for efficient ordering. An improved product search will ensure products are found quickly, with more alternative options available should Entatech be unable to fulfil an order (due to removal of products or brands) and a faster checkout system with the option to save your details for a quick tap-to-send order process.
Entatech will also be able to guarantee a personalised dashboard for customers, with promotional content based on a customer’s buying trends and needs. Customers will soon have access to Entachat, Entatech’s online chat service, which will allow them to speak online with a Sales representative to help with any online or product queries.
Finally, the new site is 100% mobile friendly with a responsive design, to enable customers to manage their account, review orders and place new orders on the go irrespective of the device being used.
EXERTIS TO DISTRIBUTE HUAWEI MEDIAPAD M2
Exertis has announced its distribution of the Huawei MediaPad tablet range, which includes the M and T series.
Ewan Davies, Exertis head of mobile sales, said: “The Huawei tablet range combines great features with competitive pricing making it a real opportunity for our customers selling into the consumer and B2B markets. The design and build quality are exceptional, adding to their appeal, and we expect these products to be in high demand by our customers.”
The 7.35mm Huawei MediaPad M2 10 houses quad speakers with advanced Harman/Kardon audio technology and a high resolution display. Available in moonlight silver, it has a 10.1” display featuring a full HD IPS screen and 1920 x 1200 resolution, 3GB of RAM, a 2.0Ghz 64 bit Octa-Core CPU, Android 5.1 (Lollipop) software and 6,660 mAh battery life. In addition, it has two cameras: a 13MP rear camera with auto focus and F2.0 aperture, and a 5MP front camera with an 88-degree ultra-wide angle lens. The M serial also comes with the 8-inch option M2 8.
Exertis has also announced that is had won the 2016 Microsoft OEM Device Partner of the Year Award.
The company was honoured among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology.
Simon Woodman, Exertis Mobile director, said: “This is a huge achievement and recognition for the Linx team at Exertis. Bringing our innovative range of tablets to market in record time, becoming the best-selling Windows based tablet in the UK and establishing Linx as a successful brand in both the consumer and B2B space has been an incredible journey. Our relationship with Microsoft at all levels has been instrumental in the success of Linx and we look forward to expanding the range both in the UK and other geographies.”
TROJAN DEPLOYS WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM GEARED FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Trojan, a company that provides multichannel etail sales and fulfilment, electronic manufacturing and asset recovery through refurbishment and recoup, has made a six figure investment to develop its own unique warehouse management system (WMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, which will result in significant growth to the company’s turnover over the next three years.
Since moving to its new location during spring 2015 – a new, purpose built 180,000 sq. ft. facility in Kings Dock, Swansea – Trojan has been developing WMS and ERP solutions, to provide the necessary soft controls and reporting that Trojan’s increasing operations demand. Both the WMS and ERP tools that have now been deployed have been developed by the company, which holds the IP to the software.
Clive Murphy, managing director of Trojan, said: "Whilst off-the-shelf products exist, a yearlong search in which tens of software houses were contacted and engaged with, didn’t uncover solutions close enough to what we needed. We could have decided to on-board a few of the core products we trialled, further developing the products to suit our rigorous requirements, but that would have entailed a period of considerable expenditure, both in terms of cash and time.
"After weighing this up with third parties with whom we had little or no previous working experience, we decided the way forward was to build our own solutions in-house, leveraging our experience with what we’ve done before for other business units."
8MAN PLUS PARTNER PROGRAM LAUNCHES IN THE UK
Protected Networks has today announced the UK launch of its 8MAN Plus Partner Program to support its expanding reseller partner community and to bring its software solution for access rights management and data security control to all types of UK organisation.
The launch of the program follows the appointment of experienced industry leader Keith Maskell as Country Manager, UK.
The 8MAN Plus Partner Program will also allow for flexible software licensing models, with the inclusion of managed services options, and a share of ongoing renewal and maintenance business alongside valuable consulting opportunities. Partners will gain access to a central web portal for a consolidated view of leads, a knowledge bank of supporting literature and materials, training programs and access to marketing campaigns.
Speaking on the launch of the 8MAN Plus Partner Program, Keith Maskell said: “I am inspired by the vision of the 8MAN product, which really goes to the heart of the data protection problem by making data access privileges manageable. The launch of the new UK partner program is a critical step in Protected Networks’ global growth strategy and I am excited that the company has made a clear and long-term decision to distribute this important product to the UK market with 100 per cent commitment to its partner channel.”
