Westcon, the networking distribution division of Datatec and the SA distributors for Motorola ING Vanguard networking products, recently launched an aggressive new campaign to identify and sign on the top Value Added Resellers (VARs) in South Africa as partners. The campaign, known as the Infinity Accredited Partner programme, is part of a worldwide Motorola strategy and has attracted over 21 South African VARs as strategic partners to Westcon.
Craig Rosewarne, the Motorola product marketing manager at Westcon, is excited about the response the Infinity programme has received from dealers. "Every Partner had to go through an accreditation process in order to become a Motorola Infinity Accredited Partner," he says. "The result is that we now have a highly focused channel that is dedicated to Motorola networking products, and Westcon is dedicated to supporting them."
Rosewarne continues, "Obviously the benefit from Westcon`s side is that we can now service a far more focused market. Instead of trying to focus on 3, 000 or 4, 000 dealers, we can focus all our attention on our Partners and help them in every way to support their customers. We have already made significant inroads into the networking market and expect substantial growth in the remainder of this year.
Rosewarne goes on to outline the benefits that Westcon is offering their Partners. Firstly, access to Motorola`s extensive product range reduces the need for VARs to train their staff on an assortment of products from multiple vendors. This also makes support much easier with a clear ownership of issues by a single vendor. Another benefit is having access to specialist network service and support.
"Whatever the size or complexity of a corporate network," Rosewarne emphasises, "Motorola provides a comprehensive range of products and support services that are designed to complement the existing in-house capabilities of Infinity Accredited partners and their customers. With Westcon`s backing, our VARs can respond to any networking opportunity no matter large or small, confident that they can deliver.
"The benefits of the partner programme to end users is twofold, in order for a dealer to become a Motorola Infinity Accredited Partner, they are required to train a minimum number of Sales, Pre-Sales and Post Sales Support staff , so they in turn can offer their end user a comprehensive and professionally engineered solution to meet their end users business requirements, secondly as accredited partners they have direct access to Motorola`s vast knowledge base and resources for support."
Infinity Accredited Partners will have a named, dedicated Account Manager from the Westcon sales team appointed to them to provide the most professional support possible. Regular communications will be maintained, Partners will have access to the latest market research and they will be privy to details of new product initiatives before they are launched.
Yet another innovative benefit for Partners is that they will have their own secure section on Motorola`s corporate Web site, giving them real-time access to the latest developments in networking technology, together with e-channel information from Motorola`s electronic update service. Extensive marketing support will be given by means of seminar programmes aimed at corporate end-users.
To further assist their Partners, Westcon sales teams will utilise lead generation programmes to actively generate sales leads, which they will pass on to Partners in applicable regions. In addition, Westcon will allocate a generous marketing development fund to provide financial assistance to invest in revenue generating promotional activities.
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