IT ChannelVision Europe: Intel Launches New Partner Program

Maurits Tichelman, director of sales & distribution reseller channel operations, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) for Intel, said the new program is targeted at systems integrators in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Germany that are buying branded systems from top tier computer makers.

Tichelman is slated to address solution providers on Wednesday at the IT ChannelVision Europe event, which is owned by ChannelWeb parent Everything Channel , a division of United Business Media.

"Technology consumption is exploding in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and we want to make sure as a technology leader we are helping to grow the reseller community so we have decided to extend channel support beyond system builders," he said.

Intel is aiming to recruit as many as 5,000 solution providers for the new program, said Tichelman. Intel currently has a formal program for some 50,000 system builders but has not targeted the thousands of solution providers in Europe buying everything from notebooks and desktops to servers directly from major computer makers.

The new technology provider program marks Intel's first program aimed at building tight ties with systems integrators rather than system builders in Europe, said Tichelman.

"I think this is as big as in 1995 when we started the original system builder program," said Tichelman. "If you look at the explosion of IT technology we are providing today and even more so in the future we just know that the reseller community will have enormous amounts of data and IT technology coming their way. We think it is absolutely essential to increase our influence and our communication with these resellers who are bringing the technology to market."

Intel wants to make sure it provides robust content to the new partners, including vendor agnostic technical information, said Tichelman. "We want to make sure that we are providing their sales force with the technical support they need to understand the technology," he said. "We think it's important that they get it straight from the source."

Tichelman said he is certain that the program will grow fast beyond the original 5,000 solution provider target. "I don't dare speculate on how big this could be," he said. "We want to grow fast beyond that."