US developer targets Aussie resellers with software suite

Australian resellers could grow 30% while always getting the best prices from disties, according to a North American supplier set to launch locally.

TechnoPlanet is a Canadian software developer that builds business software specifically targeting IT service providers.

The VAR Office Suite is a package of 30 software tools, held together by Techno Planet's original system iBiz10, an online catalogue that comprises more than one million items from distributors including Synnex and Ingram Micro.

Resellers can "activate" their distributors' catalogues on iBiz10, which uses XML data to automatically update prices and availability of stock lines; this means a reseller can log in and check the dashboard to find the best price on any given item and compare across suppliers.

According to Julian Lee, president of Canada-based TechnoPlanet, the system reduces a reseller's workload by about 80%, increases accuracy and saves about two hours of time per rep per day.

"Our internal ROI mission is to help the resellers who adopt our solutions to grow their business by 30%, save time and reduce cost," he added.

Resellers can also set up customised dashboards for major end users so they can process their own orders.

"ROI starts on day-one," Lee told CRN. "On top of this, the tool helps end-users buy and manage IT products with the reseller 24/7 – more than enough benefits to justify the monthly license fee of about $500 per month."

He conceded that the lowest-prices push was not necessarily popular with disties.

"Definitely there is some push-back, until they understand the full story. First they need to understand this is what the reseller needs and want – therefore it works. The reseller can always shop around today to find the best deals. The system just makes it easier.

"In today's world, it is impossible to keep best prices a secret," added Lee.

However, Lee said there were several ways for a distributor to "influence" the buying behaviour of a reseller.

"Distributors could stack the deck in their favour by simply offering the reseller a co-op fund for purchases to subsidise the cost of their iBiz10 license. This is enough to drive sales to the favourable distributor. Some distributors offer better pricing or shipping costs."

Techno Planet, which has "thousands" of users in North America, now has its sights firmly set on Australia.

The company is setting up an office in Sydney, which will also serve as an outpost for other reseller-focused software developers that it represents.

Lee said Techno Planet had ambitions to establish a data centre – either its own or through a co-lo – in 2014, to serve its SaaS applications locally. 

Techno Planet has compiled a database of 3,000 resellers to target and will officially launch with two day-long events next month.

Lee said: "VAR Trends is a very specific educational conference targeting IT resellers only. The main core of VAR Trends is VAR Office Suite, a suite of tools that VARs or IT resellers use to streamline, manage or market their entire business."

The VAR Trends conference takes place in Sydney 9 September and Melbourne on 12 September.