CompNow expands empire with Surface rights

Microsoft’s invitation to CompNow to join the exclusive Surface reseller community comes as the 25-year-old family business reveals an expansion into Queensland.

CompNow is now one of only 15 resellers in the country with Microsoft Authorised Surface Reseller status, joining Ethan Group along with 13 others on the list.

The win gives CompNow “another arrow in our quiver, something that separates us from other Microsoft partners", said marketing manager James Edge.

The coveted Surface role comes as the firm also announces a key expansion into Queensland. While the office isn’t established yet, CompNow has announced the move on its website, appointed a Queensland team, and clinched Brisbane Catholic Education as a customer.

“We’ve been asked many times by vendors to come north of NSW and we’ve held off till we thought it was the right time," said Edge. “We’ve been a Sydney and Melbourne-based company for a very long time."

With offices in Sydney, South Melbourne, Keysborough in Victoria, an Adelaide office opened in 2012, the acquisition of the $20 million DesignWyse Apple reseller business in Victoria in 2013, as well as the sought-after Surface reseller status, the provider is now a force to be reckoned with, even if it flies somewhat under the radar in terms of publicity.

A decade ago CompNow was known instead for its Apple retail business - at its peak, CompNow had 11 stores. Edge said the company was one of the first Apple resellers in Australia to put a store into a shopping centre, in Chadstone in Victoria. 

Now, while Apple is still a key vendor, CompNow also counts Microsoft and Cisco as "strong" partners. Nimble Storage, Acronis and Adobe are among the company's other partners.

“We’ve moved away from retail and focussed on SMEs and large corporates and education. We see it as just making the right steps at the right time," Edge said.

“We’ve had real success in regional Victoria and far flung NSW businesses and schools. We do a lot of remote support and a lot of managed services and cloud services. That’s become a big part of our offerings. As well as hardware and software procurement.”