A mixed channel approach is very limiting in terms of geographical reach and delivering high levels of service to customers, states Lars Ronning, GM of Zimbra EMEA.
“Nine months ago Zimbra would do business with anybody who wanted to do business with us. Whether it was a reseller or an end-user who called, we would take the order direct,” he offers.
Ronning explains this approach was not only inefficient but also caused quite a bit of channel conflict. “Resellers did not want to deal with Zimbra because they were concerned we would go in and sell direct.”
Initially, the company looked towards offering Zimbra services in a hosted fashion on a global scale. “However, once we went into the local markets we realised the need for product localisation, including local integration and local support,” states Ronning.
It was evident that customers wanted their data near them, he adds, instead of residing somewhere in the cloud. “Zimbra made the decision to work with local hosting partners in each of the major territories offering Zimbra as a local hosted service.”
Subsequently, the company moved towards a distributorship model and has since set up distributors in all the major regions, notes Ronning.
African distributorship
Commenting on the Red Hat connection, Ronning notes it makes sense for the two companies to join forces, as they are likely to share similar customers and go after the same channel.
While it is still early days for The Linux Warehouse's expansion into the rest of Africa, the company has identified some of the initial countries it will target. These include Nigeria, Zambia, the Ivory coast and Mauritius. Johnny Martins, Linux Warehouse MD, states: “If the demand is there, we are willing to establish a local office in the country.”
Martins adds that the focus will be on the education, public sector and enterprise sectors. “While the initial product uptake has been good, there is still a great need for education about Zimbra in the market.”
The partnership is mutually beneficial, offers Ronning. “We encourage our resellers to educate the end-user about Zimbra and in turn any leads we receive out of Africa are directed to Linux Warehouse to follow up on or distribute among the other local resellers,” he concludes.
Share