Nokia on the hunt for voice and mobility VARs
Mobile phone giant seeks channel partners with voice and mobility skills to join channel programme
Resellers with IP PBX or desktop software skills are top of Nokia’s wish-list as the mobile phone goliath continues its aggressive assault on the UK channel.
More than 70 UK resellers have already signed up to For Business, Nokia’s first end-to-end enterprise channel programme, since it was unveiled in October (CRN Online, 9 October), with the global total hitting 750 – about triple Nokia’s initial target.
But with about 70 per cent of UK registered partners coming from its pool of existing security resellers, Nokia is keen to strike up ties with more mobility and voice specialists.
John Mason, Nokia’s vice-president global channels, told CRN: “The two big growth areas for us are mobility and voice, which require a fairly complex set of skills.
“On the mobility side, we need software capabilities, such as in Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino, and on the voice side, we’re typically looking for silver or gold partners of the IP PBX or networking vendors.”
Andrew Hawkins, head of enterprise solutions UK & Ireland at Nokia, said: “I would rather have 100 resellers with the right qualities than 1,000 without.”
The new programme is split into security, mobility and voice ‘tracks’, with Nokia keen for resellers to sign up to multiple tracks.
“Many of our security resellers are signing up to everything and see this programme as an opportunity to move into mobility,” Mason claimed.
Globally, a quarter of registered resellers have enrolled to two programmes and 15 per cent to all three.
Bernie Dodwell, European security manager at Westcon Group, one of four UK Nokia distributors alongside Computerlinks, DNS and Ingram Micro, said: “From the mobility side we’ve registered about seven VARs, so we’re seeing good solid interest.
“But at the moment there’s a low cost of entry as people can just register. In April there will be a review of what each partner is doing.”