DPSA gives more cash to resellers

Local IT distie DPSA has launched a new suite of installation services to help resellers net additional revenue from IT infrastructure sales.

The suite of specialist assembly and electrical installation services allows the reseller to extend the sale when a customer buys physical infrastructure products relating to data centres and server rooms. Previously, this money was left on the table for a contractor or an electrician. 

The suite of new services include electrical installation and rack mounting of UPS and bypass equipment, mechanical installations of a cooling unit and chiller or condenser, structured cabling and plug changes of Power Distribution Units (PDUs) to allow equipment to be plugged directly to Australian sockets according to site-specific requirements.

DPSA CEO Jacques Tesson said the new services would eliminate the risk of resellers losing customers to the electrical contractor channel.

"In the past these types of services have either been left for the end-user to source their own local electrician or the reseller had to partner with an electrical contractor," Tesson told CRN.

"By using DPSA… the work is conducted by a specialist electrician and the reseller keeps close to the customer, ensuring future sales stay with them in the IT channel."

According to Tesson, DPSA's additional services could net partners anywhere from 10 percent extra revenue (for a smaller UPS rack-mounting and electrical installation) to more than 100 percent  for a full data centre electrical and mechanical installation.

"Often with a full data centre, the installation and project management of the deployment can cost just as much as the power, racks and cooling equipment that go into it," Tesson said.

To date, Tesson said around 15 partners had taken advantage of DPSA's new services.

Data centre profits surge

According to Tesson, resellers working in the data centre industry can expect a healthy profit outlook over the coming year.

"The data centre market is one of the strongest sectors of the IT industry," Tesson said. "There are a number of factors driving growth including cloud, mobile, social media and big data.

"These all place demands on IT infrastructure and so the data centre industry hasn’t seen the same slowing of some other sectors within the IT industry."

Tesson said that DSPA had seen growth of more than 30 percent in each of the past three years, with similar results expected in 2013.

"Much of the growth is in upgrades and refreshes but even so, according to IDC, the number of data centres in Australia has grown by 14.5 percent from 2010 to 2012."