Mobile Momentum

Take Tech Data. The No. 2 distributor on VARBusiness' 2004 Distribution 25 ranking is trying to help resellers corral the mercurial mobility market with a Mobile SBU that provides dedicated technical support and service fulfillment to partners. In addition, Tech Data offers presales consultation, and its specialists will spot-check a purchase order at the heart of a major product plan for gaps or conceptual faults.

"Making sure that Tech Data signs off on a solution gives me the credibility that I know it is right," says Kent Marshall, sales supervisor at VAR Bizco Technologies, Lincoln, Neb. "Making sure it's correct...I can't really put a dollar value on that, but if it's wrong, you eat it."

Clearwater, Fla.-based Tech Data has long organized best-practices exchanges between its VARs through its TechSelect program. Marshall says that wireless discussions and strategy sessions are receiving a growing share of the airtime at the quarterly conferences.

At wireless distribution specialist Brightpoint, a staff of 40 dedicated employees actively manages some 2,000 "points of distribution," says Mitch Black, senior vice president of channel development. "We do a fair amount of training and coordinating with carriers and OEMs to stimulate activity," he says.

David Cooke, president of Prizm Technologies, Indianapolis, relies on Brightpoint as his primary supplier for business-class wireless voice and data solutions. "My relationship with Brightpoint over the course of 10 years has changed, but I'm more closely linked to them now than ever," Cooke says.

Plainfield, Ind.-based Brightpoint acts as "master agent" for Cooke's business relationships with Nextel, Sprint and Virgin Mobile, an arrangement he says has led to overall faster response times for day-to-day operations. "They provide one point of contact and call-in centers for processing credit and activations," Cooke says. "It's helpful not to have to go directly to the carrier for all that, because sometimes when you call the carrier directly, it gets more convoluted."

Brightpoint has put a premium on developing the channel's ability to sell through advanced data applications, an opportunity that excites Black at least as much as the chance to sell through the latest Treo or Blackberry. "On the data side, we have quite a few approved application service providers that our authorized dealers have the opportunity to sell, because slowly but surely the migration is toward data devices," Black says.

Cooke's relationship with Brightpoint, and the growing emphasis on more sophisticated offerings, reflects an ideal distributor/reseller partnership in the wireless space, seeking new opportunities as the cellular market matures. "The days of being able to sell a voice product profitably are few and far between," Cooke says.