PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Sandown Park made a fitting location for the Northamber Expo 17, as the UK distie showed off a number of new and old Channel partnerships across all areas. Launching new partnerships with big name vendors such as Samsung, Phillips, Ben Q and Ricoh, Northamber showed that it is galloping in the right direction.
While Samsung’s 49-inch curved display (connected to FIFA) certainly caught the eye, it was the array of Channel partnerships on offer that director of strategy Alex Phillips was keen to show off. “It is all about flexibility with Northamber,” Phillips said, as he showed us around the exhibition. “Flexibility is key to Northamber, being able to provide a solution for the client by combining vendors and services is essential to our business model.”
And it is the ‘solutions-focussed’ policy adopted by Northamber that attracts so many vendors. Peter Hannah, head of UK Channel at Zyxel – who also launched its partnership with Northamber on the day – said that Northamber’s ‘network of solutions’ was a huge draw for the networking firm. “We needed a distributor partner that can provide a real solutions focus, would enable us to reach a new reseller base and give us better penetration, particularly in the security and cloud solutions markets,” Hannah said. “Northamber’s high level of technical expertise along with its loyal established customer base makes it an ideal match for the areas that we want to grow."
He added: “Our comprehensive technology portfolio will strengthen Northamber’s network offering from a wireless and switching perspective, providing it with broader reach in the market and the ability to pass on better margins to its loyal customer base.”
And it was the same case with new and old vendors alike. One area in which the Expo highlighted Northamber’s trajectory was in AV. While Philips showed of its TV wall and Samsung lured in customers with its curved gaming monitor, other vendors showed off innovative add-ons beyond the screen. Kramer showed off its wireless streaming transmitters, ideal for the education or business markets, while Ricoh displayed its short throw and portable projectors.
Solutions vendors were also out in full force, with the likes Allied Telesis and AVG exhibiting their latest security and connectivity products. Security was in fact a big talking point throughout the day with WatchGuard and Bomgar among the exhibitors. WatchGuard’s director of Area Sales in the UK and Ireland, Jon-Marc Wilkinson and Chris Brierley-Roberts, of Microsoft, gave a talk at the start of the day on the upcoming GDPR deadline. The take home message from Wilkinson being ‘it is going to impact everyone.’ He added: “GDPR is for everyone, while big companies receiving big fines will get the headlines, the SMBs will also be hit. It is not just about enterprise businesses.”
Other talks in the morning saw Carl West of GfK go over market statistics, while Neal Basson from Bid Perfect laid out how both Northamber and Bid Perfect can help your business improve its management and effectiveness.
