Zultys inks distie deal with Alloy

IP telephony vendor Zultys is aiming to double its reseller base in the next year after inking a distribution agreement with Alloy Computer Products, its second distie for Australia.

Alloy will distribute the complete range of Zultys' open standards SIP-based MX30 and MX250 IP PBX phone systems, IP phones, MXIE unified communications software and MXmeeting web conferencing platforms

The agreement was the result of three months of discussions, according to Alloy's marketing director Karl Baker.

Baker told CRN it would take "three-to-four weeks" to phase the Zultys range into its channel but he said the distie's sales and technical teams were trained and ready.

He said the distie would kick off a nationwide series of roadshows "in the early new year" to introduce Zultys to resellers.

"It'll take in most capital cities," Baker said. "We're really getting out into the channel proactively with roadshows, training opportunities - a whole range of proactive elements."

Baker hinted at the potential for special pricing or other offers in conjunction with the launch to resellers. He said any announcements would be communicated directly to the channel in the next month.

He said Alloy had "always been an admirer of Zultys' technology. We always viewed it as really top notch," he said.

"We think there's huge growth potential once we get it out there and bring it to people's attention."

Baker believed the agreement would better enable Alloy and its resellers to sell into mid-to-large enterprise deals.

"It's not to say we don't have anything to sell them [before] but Zultys is slap-bang in that market segment," he said.

Alloy is the second distie appointed to represent Zultys in Australia.

Zultys first entered the Australian market in 2003 through distie Anixter.

It then appointed Channelworx in 2005, which became Avnet in late 2007. Zultys "parted ways" with Anixter the same year.

Zultys regional director for A/NZ Martin Trigg said the vendor would continue its relationship with Avnet but viewed Alloy as an "opportunity to expand" its reseller footprint and presence.

But Trigg didn't want to get into a situation of having "a Zultys reseller on every street corner".

"We have around 20 active resellers at the moment," he said. "Hopefully over the next 12 months we'd look to double that number.

"We're not looking for 100 resellers but 40 or 50 might give us good coverage in this market."

Trigg said some existing Zultys resellers already had a relationship with Alloy.

"A lot of our resellers are already purchasing complementary products from Alloy such as GSM gateways and conference phones," he said.

In addition to benefiting from the roadshows, Trigg believed Alloy's presence at the CeBIT exhibition would prove valuable to Zultys.

"Alloy have one of the largest stands at CeBIT," Trigg said. "It gives us access to a level of exposure at CeBIT and to get in front of potential resellers."

Zultys customers include Brisbane Airport Corporation, Austal Ships, Uniting Church, Fresenius Medical Care and Cricket NSW.