VARs to play bigger role in Symbol sales
Mobile vendor puts faith in channel to sell new wireless switches
Symbol Technologies is ramping up its wireless sales through the channel this year and estimates that resellers will contribute 80 per cent of its revenue.
Key to the mobile technology vendor's sales success will be the introduction of its new WS 2000 wireless switch, unveiled today at Demo 2004 in Arizona. The switch is designed to lower Wi-Fi costs in remote offices.
Symbol said it will step up its Partner Select channel programme by making additional marketing and funding available to partners selling the product.
It also claimed WS 2000 will give resellers the opportunity to sell cheaper wireless kit to branch offices, retailers using wireless point-of-sale and Wi-Fi public hotspot providers.
"Mobile technology is becoming more pervasive, but technology costs are not allowing it to go into branch offices," said Steve Priestley, general manager at Symbol EMEA.
The WS 2000 is a cut-down version of Symbol's enterprise WS 5000 product, combining security, management and mobility applications for Ethernet and Wi-Fi networks.
It combines firewalls and a network access translation server with gateways capable of supporting 40 applications and a web authentication database. It also supports security standards including Kerberos, 802.1x, WPA and 802.11.
Symbol said it would be briefing its 554 UK reseller partners on the WS 2000 and welcomed further resellers wanting to undergo certification.
"We're engaging [resellers] to become professional services partners and benefit from the additional revenues that wireless can generate," said Richard Roberts, regional channel manager EMEA north at Symbol.
Mark Brackley, sales director at telecoms and IT reseller Jade Communications, said that cost had traditionally been a barrier for wireless network deployment and management in branch offices.
"But solutions such as these make it easy to remotely manage and upgrade the wireless network in branch offices from a central location," he said.
"Overall cost of ownership, deployment and management is cheaper, which should boost sales."