“We are different from most of our competitors in that our program is a proper channel program. It’s built from the ground up, rather than being a direct program that’s been adapted.”
Chris Thorley, A/NZ marketing manager with printer company Oki, says there is definitely a problem for the channel with major vendors choosing to sell direct in certain markets.
However, he stresses Oki sells its MPS offerings exclusively through the channel, for which the company has developed an exclusive product range. “We’re certainly going the other way,” Thorley says. “We’re empowering our partners to deliver MPS. We need them to do it.”
Thorley spearheaded Oki’s push into managed print services over the past year with the launch of an Executive series range that can only be sold by its managed print resellers. Thorley says managed print has boosted revenue by 20 percent – and he says there is more to come.
SMBs’ needs are special
According to Richard Bailey, Hewlett Packard’s vice president for South Pacific imaging and printing, while the majority of the company’s MPS deployments in the enterprise to date have been handled directly, the SMB market demands an entirely different approach to sales and ongoing support which is often best handled by the channel.
HP offers four levels of partner program designed according to the existing experience and expertise of the particular reseller, with the company reporting that the model is proving successful in the market.
HP Laserjet CM6040 MFP
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