Express Data gives an insight on what its resellers are doing

The local distributor said reseller spending is not based on software versus hardware. It's now based on 'non-discretionary spend versus discretionary spend'. 

David Peach, vendor channel manager at ED, said, the need for solutions to meet statutory requirements around security of systems and data and the ability to not only store but effectively access that data has not gone away.

"What we have seen is where ICT budgets are under pressure, the last areas to be affected are these non-discretionary areas, and it is as always a mixture of hardware and software that achieves the outcome," he said.

"We have definitely seen a shift towards solutions which address the non-discretionary requirements that a business will have."

Peach believes that anyone with a large quota in the finance sector is doing it tough at the moment.

"We have seen some strong activity across a number of verticals, including notably, retail," he said.

"Despite the negative outlook that the media portrays regarding the retail sector, we have been involved in some significant opportunities lately in this sector."

Mal Shaw, general manager sales Australia at ED, told CRN, IT infrastructure (LAN, WAN, security, storage, virtualisation and data centre) was showing some resilience to current market pressures.

"User demand continues to increase with the growth of users on broadband and the increase of mobile data users," he said.

"There is a trend towards cloud-based applications as the netbook user base grows.

Server and storage consolidation continues as companies seek cost and power consumption reductions."

He believes it's too early to tell how local resellers will hold up in these economic times.

"I don't think we have seen the full impact of the financial crisis yet," said Shaw.

"Our experience is that services-led resellers, partners that maintain strong balance sheets and align with the right vendors are the ones that find their way through a downturn."

Express Data has recently added products and technologies from vendors such as Hitachi Data Systems, AutoDesk, Blue Coat and Sun Microsystems.

"In all cases these are not simple commodity items, but rather solutions which involve complexity and therefore the ability for our resellers to sell the value of their attached services," said Peach.