Print.IT Reseller - issue 74

As mentioned earlier, I expect the future shape of the business to change to an as-a-service model. We have invested in lots of different high growth areas. Cloud infrastructure and technologies for example are a big focus for us and we also believe that the mobility opportunities are still huge. Cloud is predominantly subscription-based, but we also expect to see acceleration of instances where hardware, including print, is sold as-a-service. We have invested heavily in that space around tools, people and the processes behind that. For example, using our In Touch website, a reseller can create a basket of products – both hardware and software – and the platform will convert that into a monthly price over 24 or 36 months. We also utilise residual value partners across all technology, that enables our resellers to go back to the end customer with a really good attractive offer with residual value included. That’s an investment we made four or five years ago and, prior to COVID, it was really starting to accelerate. PITR: Tech Data offers its resellers a whole range of services and resources, all of which are geared to supporting them to increase sales, make more profit, reduce cost and deliver enhanced end-user customer satisfaction. Can you tell me more about the just launched Trusted Advisor campaign? JR: The Trusted Advisor campaign is designed to make customers aware of the full range of services and support available to enhance their efficiency, drive sales and achieve business objectives. We have selected ten value- add services to promote initially – the ones we believe most partners would benefit from using in their day-to-day business. Many of these services would be too costly, challenging, or time- consuming for a partner to develop and run on their own. Our Trusted Advisor strategy is our promise to help our partners achieve their goals. The ten services include: n InTouch: Tech Data’s e-commerce platform. Customers have access to real- time pricing and availability, promotions and bids, order tracking and account management. n StreamOne : the channel’s leading cloud aggregation platform for quotations, provisioning, management and billing of cloud services. n Software Store: dedicated area for building accurate quotations and managing customer licensing orders and renewals. n Tech-as-a-Service: enables resellers to offer hardware combined with software and services in a subscription package. n Tech Data Renew: comprehensive trade-in programme for all products. n Technical Services: extensive portfolio which partners can offer to their own customers, including pre- and post- sales advice, consultancy and support, migration, upgrades and training. n Logistics Services: industry-leading logistics and stock holding capability. n Enablement Programmes: Accelerate & Practice Builder helping partners to develop specialisation in specific vendor solutions and next generation technologies, and to transform and accelerate their business. n Tech Data Communities: Tech Select & Tech Data Advance providing partners with a way to interact, share ideas and learn from each other and from Tech Data’s own experts. n Tech Data Channel Academy: free sales training resource that all Tech Data customers can use to get their teams up to speed on the very latest solutions and technologies from a wide range of vendors. www.techdata.com where we can and working with them around payments and credit, because we know it’s a challenging period. We do see our role as not to simply supply product, but to add value and service, and some of that is just to help partners through this tricky period. PITR: What in your opinion will be the biggest challenges facing the channel in the coming months? JR: The next biggest challenge is going to be how we get everyone back into work, by that I mean back into offices. Apart from logistics, we as a company are functioning effectively as a home working organisation. But there will be a transition back and I think that’ll be a transition for all of our partners too. We are here to help them figure out what the new normal will be for organisations selling to customers, and how we can support that. That’s an exciting challenge because some of the stuff we would have done to enable partners in the past around training, face to face training or technical training or sales training, we will have to consider how we do that in a different format. We have a lot of external sales people, who are used to having face to face engagements with partners, we will be looking at how best to make that resource available, effective and safe in the new world. PITR: Looking ahead to the post- COVID era, where do you see opportunity? JR: What comes next is going to be different to how we’ve engaged previously. As sites open up and businesses get back to working in the office we will start to see installations get booked back in. I think there’ll be a lot of large infrastructure and enterprise print opportunities landing again, so our focus will be on how we can best serve our partners to capture these new opportunities. Cloud is predominantly subscription- based, but we also expect to see acceleration of instances where hardware, including print, is sold as-a-service ONE-TO-ONE 01732 759725 30 ...continued