Going global

Bechtle may already be one of Europe's largest VARs but it is now investing in a partner model as it moves to fulfil its customers' global needs

No matter which country you are in, the nearest shopping hub will likely present today's consumer with a similar selection box of businesses, with a distinctly international feel. If you picture your local retail park, there is a good chance you are calling to mind an image of a Japanese car dealership in between a Swedish furniture store and an American coffee emporium.

The B2B space has perhaps lagged the consumer world somewhat in embracing such globalised business models. But in the last few years the IT channel is one sector that has seen an acceleration in cross-border expansion.

Systemax, Insight, SHI, and Zones are among the US-based channel giants to have become familiar names on this side of the Atlantic. Meanwhile, counterpart CDW's long-term working relationship with Kelway ended in the acquisition of the UK reseller heavyweight last year.

Computacenter - which itself had a long-standing partnership with a US peer, in the shape of CompuCom Systems - recently announced it is to set up a direct presence in New Jersey. Another European-headquartered integrator, Logicalis, has also stepped up its transatlantic expansion ambitions in the last couple of years, although its focus has been further south, in Latin America.

With wholly owned locations in 14 European countries, Bechtle has long been an international business. But the Germany-headquartered VAR - which turned over €2.82bn last year - has made significant moves in the last two years to expand its reach even further. And the company's modus operandi has shown that the partnership model is alive and well.

Bechtle's Global IT Alliance (GITA) was born in 2014 out of the firm's partnership with PC Connection, one of the largest resellers in the US. Since then, the programme has expanded to encompass members including Atea in the Nordic and Baltic regions, JBS in Japan, Datacentrix in South Africa, Compucentro in Mexico, Data#3 in Australia, Lexel in New Zealand, Microware in Brazil, and JOS in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, and Singapore.

James Napp, Bechtle's UK boss, also serves as director of GITA. He tells Channelnomics Europe that GITA members do not serve merely as fulfilment partners. Bechtle and its allies work in unison, he says, with senior management on both sides actively supporting the partnership, and ensuring any potential commercial conflict is avoided.

"The collaboration is very close, and it is not just around sharing customers and doing joint deals. It is also about things like sharing best practice," he says. "It is crucial to have the exec engagement right at the top level. Then, even if we did have a problem, the escalation time is short, and it is resolved quickly."

Engaging work
The profile of firms to have joined the GITA programme thus far is large IT infrastructure and services providers. Napp explained that Bechtle has sought partners that could bring as much scale and reach to the partnership as possible - but that there could be room for more specialised players in future.

"There is definitely room for some niche partners in some specific areas. But it is very important that we share the same values," he adds. "It has to be an almost seamless experience for customers - that is why the executive engagement is so important, as is the engagement of the vendors, who have helped us identify the right partners, and even help guide us in terms of what they want to see from the network."

GITA in brief■ Founded in 2014 on the back of Bechtle's partnership with US firm PC Connection
■ Nine partners worldwide
■ Covers six continents
■ Three partners added this year: Mexico's Compucentro, Brazilian Microware, and Data#3 in Australia■ Bechtle had 2015 sales of €2.82bn

Napp agrees that GITA fits into a wider picture of an increasingly globalised channel, with expansion driven by demand for customers who want providers that can serve them across multiple regions. Although others have opted for M&A or investment in new offices, the partnership model has proved to be right for Bechtle, he states.

"At the moment it is working very well. We are expanding the alliance, and we will pursue that for the foreseeable future. We have more target territories," he adds. "But the idea is not to have hundreds of partners, but a close-knit network of resellers, with a high level of engagement and sponsorship. That is a big differentiation of our network against some others."

GITA is already driving sales on a daily basis, claims Napp (pictured right), with business growing all the time via "a mix of expanding with existing customers, and acquiring new ones" in both Bechtle's European homeland and further afield.

But, even in a globalised world, the VAR and its increasingly diverse customer base still believe in some of the channel's traditional values.

Or as Napp puts it: "It is all about having the same experience as you would get from your local reseller."