CRN: We're seeing Telstra doing some of that. They've started using Log Me In software now to set up people's modems for them - the SMB is the logical next step. Do you see that as a threat to the established IT reseller channel with telcos moving more into that space?
Obeidullah: I think the telcos moving in is one thing but I don't think telcos will really understand the needs of SMBs. Telcos are good at understanding enterprise needs and the complexities there. SMB have, to some degree, unique requirements in some ways and require a different level of service, so I think there's a much bigger opportunity for resellers to pull in the different components and actually offer it as a service.
McKinnel: This concept of vendor agnostic has to go because there is so much consolidation, there's so much complexity, you have to pick No.1 and No.2 in the market that you think is not going to be acquired or be significant to another organisation and build skills in it and add value because you need to - the same as a lot of the vendors here, it's a sophisticated product set. Even if you're addressing a basic requirement for a small business you still need to have some skills in it to be proficient in it.
David Treacy, NSC: Yes - because customers want this and this and this. You're like, we don't have a lot of the skills in that. In the last five years the distributors are becoming an aggregation point for a lot of resellers and the skills are starting to pop up in the distributor [to address the skills shortage].
Abraham: I think that will build a lot of credibility because you're not saying you're the be-all and end-all for everyone - this is what we stand for, however I have a friend over here in another organisation that can really add a lot of value to this.
CRN: Maybe there's a campaign that could be run. Resellers could say to their customers would you trust the guy at the barbecue to run your business? Well why are you trusting him to run your IT?
Pregnell: Would you get him to draft your employment contracts?
McKinnel: It's the same analogy, it's a critical part of the business. You wouldn't not go to a lawyer for a piece of IR or employment dispute, you wouldn't go she'll be right, I'll go down to the local conveyancing guy or local family lawyer to deal with an IR issue.
Penno: That's because the implications if I don't go and visit a lawyer are fairly significant, I can actually see what the implications of not doing the right thing there are. But in terms of technology what happens if I don't consult with the right people - my business is still going to run, my PCs are still going to be on the desk. The benefits or the risk is not well understood, or as tangible.
Abraham: Safi raised a really good point and you asked a very good question, which was what's going to happen when all these vendors, all these telcos come out with this solution in a box.
All you have to look at is the consolidation of vendors and the consolidation of resellers over the last 10 years. The ones that were very self-centred and didn't behave in a selfless sort of way are gone. So this is a great opportunity for resellers right now to embrace this stuff and say we didn't know about this six months ago but it's here right now, or it's going to come.
Talk about roadmapping, get close to your vendor, understand what technology is coming out, tell them 12 months in advance instead of just worrying about the tactical sale today - you'll probably get the tactical sale anyway...
Friend: Back to David's point, as a valued distributor one of our key roles is to maintain that team of technical expertise that not all the resellers can maintain themselves so that we can assist with that solution design and that delivery of product and services, because the portfolio is very large. There's a lot of things out there and we have the technical skills to help the resellers because not all of them, at this point at least, are up to speed to do it themselves.
CRN: Just to get back to trends - enterprise have been talking about video and UC for a long time, and now tablets are here. I want to get a realistic idea of whether you think we really are going to see video coming on strong in SMB in 2011. Is it a year too early still?
Penno: What do you see as the application for video? We're doing a massive amount of video.
CRN: Enterprise or SMB?
Penno: Actually across the board, but not in the application you're thinking about - we're actually doing it in CCTV. CCTV is probably a little left of centre for most people here but we do a lot of work with the traditional security channel - access control, CCTV, building management systems - all of these platforms that were stand-alone traditional systems using traditional infrastructure have all moved to IP over the last 3-4 years. So today we have a network in Melbourne with 4000 video streams on it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
CRN: What about from a remote office/mobile workforce perspective or UC side of things? Is that also going
to happen?
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