Sun signals direct billing for distributors

Sun has announced plans to allow its distributors to invoice reseller customers directly in the US, but says that it has no plans to introduce the scheme to the UK or Europe.

Sun has announced plans to allow its distributors to invoice reseller customers directly in the US, but says that it has no plans to introduce the scheme to the UK or Europe.

The company is allowing its authorised distributors to bill end-users directly, as long as they have permission from resellers to do so. Rob Coleman, channel marketing manager at Sun UK, said: "We have no plans to do that at this stage but it would probably be the next step. We tend to rely on resellers to do the integration, and for some it would make sense. E-integrators would not have the stock-holding capability."

Coleman said there was more emphasis on e-resellers in the US at present.

Bill Cate, director of US channel sales, said that the move was part of Sun's strategy to open the door for e-resellers.

"The old relationship was strictly with the reseller. It was a crisp, two-tier strategy. We've found over the last couple of years that the partners add a lot of value, he said.

"They have increased their mixture of services and rely less on hardware revenue. The restriction forced them to be part of the transaction process."

By loosening the terms, the changes will also bring web integrators and other service-oriented partners into Sun's channel infrastructure.

Although Sun is allowing its partners to buy direct from its website, distributors are still in the loop said Cate.

"The traditional two-tier model still keeps everyone in the game. We're having some good planning discussions with all our distributors. They're all working on how to develop their business model under the new umbrella of Sun," he said.

US distributor Merisel Open Computing Alliance has already started to take advantage of the direct billing scheme. It will provide logistical support for ebusiness consulting firm Stonebridge Technologies in a two-year deal worth $150m (£95m).