VARs have claimed that TechGuys, the national support service launched by DSG International last week, is not a threat, despite the fact that the electronics giant admitted it would be targeting small businesses.
DSG’s latest venture will provide consumers and businesses with support for installing, connecting, protecting, upgrading and fixing IT and audiovisual equipment, regardless of where the technology is bought from.
The firm said its TechGuys service is capable of 16,000 home visits per week, with call centre staff on hand 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Telephone calls to the TechGuys service will cost £1.50 a minute.
Hamish Thompson, a DSG representative, told CRN: “The major focus for TechGuys is consumers, but we also anticipate that SME and small-office/home-office customers will use the service. There might be a little overlap with regards to what PC World Business (PCWB) offers, but we don’t see TechGuys being in conflict with the services that PCWB offers.”
Dan May, director at VAR Ramsac, said: “I don’t perceive this as a threat to the channel because SMEs will always require the reliability of a trusted relationship with their IT supplier, which I don’t think DSG can offer.”
Lee Bevan, managing director of VAR Leapfrog Computers, said: “The image associated with DSG’s experts is not one that businesses would want to deal with. Also, I don’t think a small business would want to call a premium-rate number to solve their IT problem. Not only is it costly, it is also time consuming. Most IT problems need to be dealt with hands on, so small businesses will end up paying for a call-out anyway.”
Over the next five years DSG said it expects to invest £50m into TechGuys, with the opening of 200 stand-alone service locations in the UK, service points at 150 PC World stores and a number of concessions, potentially creating 2,000 new jobs.
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