Spice up your margins

The audiovisual space offers some ripe pickings for resellers, says Paul Briggs.

Movers and shakers in the channel will tell you that talking about margins is a bit like chatting about sex with your mates.

However much you say you are getting, it is never enough, you always think your rivals are getting more than you are, and the size of your margin is probably a lot smaller than you'd like.

But while margins on traditional IT hardware have been shrinking for some time, there are still plenty of opportunities for resellers to keep up profitable businesses.

One is in the lucrative audiovisual space. As broadband adoption gradually spreads, many end-users are looking at how always-on connectivity will act as the gateway to a rich stream of audio and visual content.

Add to this technology a pinch of wireless connectivity and you have all the ingredients for an office, educational establishment, training centre or connected home.

With technologies such as Bluetooth and 802.11x, resellers can pull together different product groups such as PCs, DVD recorders, LCD plasma displays and projectors and offer a portfolio of products aimed at solving business needs, reducing costs and boosting productivity.

Because margins on these products are so good and offer cast-iron upsell opportunities, it is not surprising that distributor Computer 2000, for example, has created Avit, a dedicated business unit to help resellers offer connected, wireless, audiovisual and data solutions.

Other firms such as Midwich, which has been focusing on this area for some time, are looking to strengthen their position in this important space.

The best way to evaluate how this technology trend will enhance your business is to see it in action.

If you can't get over to this month's CeBIT, where it looks set to take centre stage, give your disties a call and ask what programmes they have to help you add some Viagra to your margins.