Dell picks Harris Technology for SMB push

Dell has announced Harris Technology as its reseller partner for the small to medium business market.

Harris Technology is owned by Wesfarmers - which also owns Officeworks, one of Dell's retail partners in Australia.

The deal between Dell and Harris sat on the commercial side of the vendor's channel program and differed from its retail partnerships with Officeworks, Dick Smith and The Good Guys.

About 80 percent of Harris Technology's customers are SMBs falling under 150 employees. The remaining 20 percent are categorised by the reseller as 'prosumers' - tech-savvy consumers.

Small businesses will be able to access the vendor's range of products including Latitude and Vostro notebooks, Optiplex and Vostro desktops, PowerEdge servers, storage and peripherals such as projectors and printers.

Harris Technology will also sell a range of Dell products specifically built for its customer base.

The products will be sold through Harris' call centre, business sales team, online or by visiting any of its five Business Centres located in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth.

Deborah Harrigan, general manager at Dell SMB A/NZ told CRN both companies came together because they had "excellent synergy" in terms of business models, customer focus and delivering value to the SMB market. 

"Harris' specialty in servicing the sub-150 market was particularly interesting for Dell," she said.

Eron Plumb, national manager at Harris Technology told CRN the reseller would handle the implementation and servicing of Dell's products.

"We have our own technical services team," he said. "However we do use third-party service companies in certain regions like far-western Queensland where we don't have a centre."

The partnership cements Dell's launch of its PartnerDirect program and entrance into the Australian channel about 12 months ago, said Rob Makin, director of channel strategy and acquisition for Dell A/NZ.

Makin said the vendor had a "healthy uptake" of partners applying to be a partner since launching the partner program.

He said the vendor was selective in its process of selecting channel partners and was wary of over distributing its partners reach.

"We have approached partners with a value commitment focus," he said. "Very few partners have questioned Dell about its direct heritage."

Makin said the vendor has always worked with partners in the commercial space although a channel partner program wasn't formalised in Australia until 12 months ago and two years ago in other regions.

Has Dell done enough to earn reseller's trust in Australia? CRN would like your view...