Dell headhunts Vars in post-cull fervour

After dumping most of its indirect channel, the direct PC vendor hasdrawn up a hit list of 400 of its competitors' resellers

Dell has a hit list of 400 UK Vars, some of which it hopes to lure away from Compaq, IBM and Hewlett Packard, just five weeks after it dumped the majority of its resellers in a massive channel cull.

In August the vendor sacked about 450 resellers, leaving it with 78.

Jonathon Adams, director of Compaq's commercial business unit, attacked Dell's 'confused' channel policy. 'The channel is just going to think "here we go again". Dell has failed to make its indirect model work because it does not have a relationship of trust with the channel,' he said.

Harry Thullier, chairman of Compaq dealer Fraser Associates, said: 'I wouldn't touch Dell with a bargepole at the moment as I don't view them as trustworthy.'

Mark McCarthy, partner sales manager at Dell, refused to name any of the Vars on his target list and admitted it would be tough to persuade dealers it could be trusted. 'We need to be active and convince dealers there is a reason to change. Dell offers resellers a direct relationship, rapid delivery, and the most aggressive prices,' he said.

McCarthy denied Dell has made a policy U-turn or that he was attacking distributors. He said each of the 400 Vars on its list are in vertical markets, capable of doing u500,000 a year in Dell business, whereas the 450 it dismissed were too small to justify a partner relationship.

Crispin Coulson, marketing manager at Dell reseller Text Systems, said: 'It is merely looking to upgrade the quality of its resellers, after a consolidation.'

McCarthy said the recruitment would be a long process, but he expected to sign up a small number of Vars by the beginning of next year.

Frontline product marketing director David Clarke denied a direct vendor relationship was best for resellers. 'We offer complete solutions, not just PC hardware, as well as credit and a relationship of trust.'