Technology company Xerox will strengthen its channel focus in SA and Africa in an attempt to widen its partner distribution.
The company yesterday officially renewed its exclusive distributorship with Altron-owned Bytes Document Solutions (BDS) for the next 10 years. The agreement provides for automatic renewal every 10 years.
BDS is Xerox's authorised distributor in 27 sub-Saharan African countries, and won Xerox's Middle East and Africa (MEA) Partner of the Year Award for 2010.
Big pockets
Herve Tessler, corporate VP of the Xerox developing markets operations, says the renewal of the distribution agreement is of great importance to business in SA.
Adds CEO of BDS Hennie du Plessis: “We are either number one or number two in our chosen markets, and we expect the renewal of this agreement not only to cement our position in SA, but to expand our extensive African and South African dealer network.”
He says the renewal of the contract gives comfort to BDS's big customers within government and financial institutions.
“With a 10-year agreement in our back pocket, it increases our ability to go after bigger opportunities and increase our footprint in SA.”
Local strategy
Marcus Childs, VP and GM of Xerox MEA, says the company has a partner-based strategy for SA, where local managers and owners are involved, since they understand the local market.
“We are going to expand our partners' distribution to bring in wider value propositions. Channels are a very big focus for us in Africa, and we are widening those channels. We want a wider audience of partners in SA in particular.”
The company will enhance its investments in SA and Africa, Childs says, adding that a fairly new play for Xerox is the expansion of its managed print services.
Share
