In response to increasing business demand in the region and as a sign of its commitment and investment, HP has established a formal support infrastructure in Mauritius through a series of certified channel partners and support service agents.
The move is also part of HP`s greater goal to eradicate the market for grey imports in Africa.
The news is expected to be welcomed by the channel and end-user customer alike. Channel partners have the potential to offer greater value-add to the solutions they sell and therefore generate larger revenues; customers have immediate points of contact for support, service and repair issues.
Roland Niebuhr, the product support manager for south-east Africa at HP, explains that until now support on HP`s total solution was provided primarily by the company itself.
However, there has been significant growth in information and communication technology as a result of Mauritius` drive to become a `cyber island`. In addition, HP`s own market share on the island has grown as part of its drive to offer customers comprehensive services and solutions. Establishing a formal support infrastructure was the next logical step.
"We now have three support partners in Mauritius: SuperDist, an HP wholesaler and authorised support provider since 1997; GS Informatique and Blanche Birger, both existing HP solutions resellers and companies that are new to the support programme," says Niebuhr.
In terms of the appointments, all three companies will offer first line support to their customers. They will also be able to offer (and charge for) additional value-added services in the form of HP`s `support pack` solution or other contractual agreements.
While Niebuhr confirms that there is greater demand for support and services around solutions targeted at those small to medium enterprise businesses typically driven by Windows-based systems, he is quick to point out that HP`s other solutions will not go uncovered.
"Our intention [with the infrastructure in Mauritius] is to offer support across our entire range of solutions - from personal devices to printers to desktops all the way through to high-end Unix servers and storage subsystems," he says.
The details of support for high-end systems - especially where proactive high availability services are concerned - are still under development; Niebuhr says formal announcements will made within the next month or so.
On the grey market issue, it`s expected that creating a formal channel for support will eradicate the scourge of unsupported product so prevalent in African territories.
"The problem with grey product is that it`s difficult for customers to receive support," explains Niebuhr. "As many of these products have special warranties and conditions the partners may not be able to obtain the required spares. The makes the total cost of ownership higher, not lower, than solutions purchased through the official channel."
While not necessarily applicable to Mauritius at this point in time - the three partners have adequate skills and capacity - HP has created a second level for this support infrastructure. Service agents, companies that specialise in services on and around HP technology, can be sub-contracted by wholesalers as official service partners in countries where they have no direct presence.
"Our wholesalers and resellers are responsible for appointing service agents that can assist them in their business. We do, however, vet the companies to ensure that the skills are of a sufficient level," says Niebuhr.
"These companies give our partners more feet on the street. And they are also duty-bound to provide repairs and honour warranties on any official HP solutions that customers may bring to them."
The creation of a support infrastructure in Mauritius complements existing set-ups in the northern territories of Ghana and Nigeria. Niebuhr confirms that more channel partner-based support infrastructures will be established in other regions in Africa - the roll-out of which will dovetail with HP`s sales and marketing strategy for the continent.
"There are particular regions that we are on a serious drive to develop business in - Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Angola, Namibia and Mozambique being just some of them," he explains.
"The support infrastructures will complement the sales and solution drives into these countries - after all, success in the ICT business means offering a full range of service options that support the technology chosen by customers."
For more information on HP`s solutions and activities in Africa, surf to www.hp.com/country/aa/eng/welcome.htm
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