The leading distributor Computerlinks is devising a strategy that may just reshape the dynamics of the Middle East channel market.
“In the Middle East in particular, Computerlinks is working towards bringing in smaller product lines that offer more value to our partners rather than bringing in larger vendors, with huge product lines and smaller margins. The reason we do this is simple because we want to give the smaller but more focused partners an opportunity to make more margins, cater to more customers and ultimately be more profitable,” said Lee Reynolds, MD at Computerlinks, MEA and APAC. 
“In the region, there is a large gap between the big and massive partners and smaller to medium sized partners. Often times, it is the smaller partners who really do a great job servicing our customers but are rarely given a chance to succeed because they are overshadowed by the larger players in the market. So we’re trying to change this scenario and it’s really going to be our goal over the next few quarters. We’re going to bring on partners like Exinda who have really been dormant for the last two and a half years but have now brought on new management and a new structure as well as some great technologies. By doing this we want to help those small to medium sized resellers get some market share off the bigger players,” added Reynolds.
“I think the whole structure at Computerlinks in the Middle East is one that focuses on bringing the smaller partners into that arena of servicing the higher customers. I really enjoy that, it makes me happy to do that,” he said.
Reynolds believes that the whole strategy of shifting focus away from the bigger players will benefit the entire channel community. “If market concentration continues and only the big guys continue to dictate margins, we will all be out of job in the next five years. The balance has to be maintained. If we continue on this path where the same partners do the same business with the same vendors offering the same level of service, we’ll soon see no value in the value chain, there will be no value added distributors or resellers unless we begin to put some of the good technology with good margins into the channel,” he explained.
The company is now marketing campaigns to promote this strategy by introducing some technologies that are new and some that have been existing but have changed to offer better value to customers. “We are trying to go back to market with some of products simply because they have been addressing the wrong markets and the wrong customers. So we’re mapping out the right partners, revising our following quarters marketing spend and shelling out strategies for our product managers,” he said.
“We are also launching new channel programmes in addition to giving smaller customers an opportunity to be at larger events and introducing them to bigger customer only if they come into a SLA that we are in control of,” he said.
Computerlinks has just moved into a new office in Dubai that now houses two new training rooms in addition to hiring a professional services champion. The company is now all set to target the small to medium sized businesses in the region to help them develop their business to be more profitable.
