Varlink plans another partner conference

Distributor keen to build on the success of its first one

Fledgling distributor Varlink is planning another partner conference later this year following the success of its first one last month.

Set up at the end of 2005 to specialise in mobile computing products (CRN, 15 November 2005), the York-based distributor now has 400 resellers with open accounts and 18 vendors on board. The company has reported a turnover of about £4m as it enters its second year of operation and hopes to grow its reseller base further.

Sabine Kelly, marketing manager at Varlink, told CRN: “We had 140 attendees at our partner conference in January and the feedback is that people went away with a lot of valuable information.

“Our reseller partners were impressed with the tight conference programme of presentations, the exhibition floor and our software village where 17 ISVs displayed their offerings,” she said. “We are looking at possibly holding another event in October.”

A range of new devices were unveiled at the event by various manufacturers. German vendor t+t Netcom announced it had established a sole distribution agreement with Varlink for its modular Rugged Digital Assistants, which had not previously been available in the UK.

Jarkko Simon, t+t Netcom sales director, said: “Our multi-function products have achieved substantial success in Germany, particularly in the logistics sector, and we are confident that opening the channel with Varlink will result in strong UK sales.”

New York-based Portable Technology Solutions also used the event to announce it would be organising training days for UK resellers to get a full understanding of its Tracer Plus asset management mobile data collection software.

Varlink steps into PDA market