Westcon Seeking New Partners

Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Westcon group has launched an Affinity program to recruit manufacturers with products that complement or integrate with its three core vendor partners. In particular, it wants vendors whose solutions traditionally have not been offered through distribution, said Paul Cunningham, vice president of the Technology Solutions Group at Westcon Group.

“Building an engine that would allow applications vendors, component vendors, application-specific device vendors to get into the channel via distribution is really the goal,” Cunningham said. “There&'s no obvious place now for the channel to source those solutions.”

To date, Westcon Group has signed eight vendors, representing a range of technologies: Meru Networks, SDC Solutions, Braxtel, Kirk Telecom, Mediatrix, Quintum, Metropolis Technologies and StoneVoice, Cunningham said.

Meru Networks entered the program because it liked Westcon Group&'s strategy to match the vendors with the most appropriate solution providers, said Matt Ginn, vice president of market development at the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company.

“The program puts us with the right VARs and salespeople to take a look at what real customer needs are,” Ginn said.

Since joining the Affinity program several months ago through Voda One, Westcon Group&'s Avaya-focused division, Meru&'s customer satisfaction has increased dramatically, Ginn said.

“It&'s higher than if we were doing it ourselves. I&'m talking to their technical support system about demand creation and tracking software for incidents, resolution and an overall knowledge base to track the incidents,” Ginn said. “Given that activity, our customers are very satisfied with what they&'re getting from Voda One.”

Prime Business Systems, a San Diego-based solution provider, signed as a Meru reseller after the vendor joined the Affinity program and is implementing its first project into a hotel this week, said Mark Ritchie, president of Prime Business Systems. “As we start selling into the converged space, we can&'t just sell Avaya. We need multiple manufacturers in our pocket at the same time,” he said.

The solution provider used to subcontract work that fell outside its Avaya practice, but now it won&'t have to do that, Ritchie said. “It&'s new to us. We&'re usually just an Avaya ship. Now we&'re a multi-vendor ship. It&'s learn as you go,” he said.

Westcon Group plans to add about five new vendors per quarter to the program in North America, Cunningham said. “We don&'t have a quota to fill. There is a practical limit,” he said.

In some cases, participating vendors will focus on specific vertical markets such as hospitality or health care, he said. “It doesn&'t require a mass market to get targeted solutions. Sometimes a dozen resellers on a national basis can be enough to get the ball rolling for some of these solutions,” he said.