Technology Reseller - v30

COLLABORATION A better experience thanks to its built-in bright light technology. Our new Zones range of headsets are really starting to take off. Then, moving down the range, our business grade ergonomic mouse and keyboards have been doing very well – things like our MX Anywhere wireless mouse. We are seeing demand right across the portfolio,” he said. Room solutions The flipside has been the hit taken by Logitech’s room solutions for Google, Microsoft and Zoom, including the Logitech Tap touchscreen control panel, though Mason points out that demand for these systems has been more resilient than might have been expected. “It is fair to say that prior to Covid-19, our Tap and our room environments were really accelerating – Tap particularly. Those installations and enquiries and projects are continuing, but they are obviously slowing while we are in lockdown as companies are nervous about what the future holds. That said, I have been surprised by the number of projects that are still ongoing. A lot of companies are using the fact that their offices are empty to get ahead of the game,” he said. Moreover, Mason expects people’s experience of video conferencing during lockdown to boost demand for room systems after they start returning to the office. “Whether the surge in demand for our personal workspace and remote working solutions continues through June and into July remains to be seen, but we feel it will effectively flip as people return to the office, leading to an acceleration in demand for Logitech Room Solutions, particularly from a Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google perspective,” he said. New partner programme Last year, Logitech introduced a new EMEA channel partner programme, Logitech ONE, to help channel partners profit from changing workplace trends and the company’s growing B2B offering. Since joining Logitech in January, Mason has been working hard to drive awareness of the programme’s benefits. These include a simple, consistent structure (Premier Partner, Certified Partner, Registered Partner); a Deal Registration Program; online training modules through Logitech University; extensive marketing collateral; a Channel Assist programme that provides partners with support from Logitech’s High Touch team; and a rebate programme. “We have had a really good response so far from partners and have seen some really good growth since going live with it – certainly over the four months from January,” said Mason. He adds that Logitech is supporting the programme by taking on new channel account managers and expanding its High Touch team, which provides specialist support to help resellers win enterprise and public sector business. “Logitech was born out of the retail market and over the last few years it has spent a lot of time learning about the enterprise business space and has put a massive amount of investment into growing that business for partners. You can see that from our year-on-year growth, which has been good across the different categories, but particularly VC,” he said. The popularity of video calls has been one of the defining features of the lockdown period. Whether organisations continue to invest in personal conferencing products for home workers or in building video meeting rooms in their offices, Logitech and its partners are well placed to prosper. Wayne Mason, B2B Channel Lead at Logitech UK, tells Technology Reseller why the company’s B2B product line-up is a good fit for resellers Everyone talks about the success of Teams, Google, Zoom and other conferencing platforms, but they aren’t the only ones doing well from the lockdown and home working. Video collaboration hardware vendor Logitech has seen a surge in demand for its personal workspace products, including webcams, headphones and keyboards. With cameras built into smartphones and most laptops, you might think that accessories such as these are not strictly necessary. However, Wayne Mason, B2B Channel Lead at Logitech UK, argues that people now spend so much time on video calls that they and their employers are more conscious of ergonomic considerations. “One of the things we have seen during this crisis is how intensive working from home can be with Google, Teams or Zoom. Many people do one video call after another, with no breaks in between. So we started to see a real uptick in questions about how to improve the remote working experience,” he said. “One way to do this is to upgrade your webcam. Our tech people do a powerful demo of switching camera sources while on a call. You see someone on a normal webcam and think that is good enough, but then you see them with a Brio or a C930e and there is a real wow factor. The colour saturation, the definition, the depth, the width and the focus really bring home the benefits of a high quality device. It’s like switching between standard definition and high definition channels on your TV. It’s that kind of experience.” Mason points out that sales have been strong across Logitech’s entire range. “Our Brio is doing very well as a webcam 01732 759725 36