Apex Computers puts the shine into shifting tin
Cirencester-based IBM business partner Apex Computers has set up a subsidiary called TinDirect.com to sell 'remarketed' IBM kit to the channel.
Box-shifter is usually a term of abuse in the channel, and the last thing most companies would admit to is having a business based on shifting tin. However, Cirencester-based IBM business partner Apex Computers has no such worries. It has set up a subsidiary called TinDirect.com to sell 'remarketed' IBM kit to the channel.
Rod Haddrell, TinDirect's managing director, said: "We're an unashamed hardware dealer." The company will specialise in supplying maintenance companies with reconditioned IBM servers and spare parts.
Haddrell said TinDirect's value comes from its knowledge of older IBM products and its stock availability. "If a maintenance company says it needs to have a part delivered to a site in two hours, we'll find a way to reach them," he said.
In three months' time, TinDirect intends to put its catalogue online so that its customers can use it to search for parts and place orders.
"That is when our company will come into its own," said Haddrell.
TinDirect will buy excess stock from IBM distributors and other resellers, with much of it being supplied by Apex.
Haddrell admitted that TinDirect's ties with Apex may make other IBM resellers reluctant to deal with it, but he argued that such worries would be unfounded. "We deal with honour and integrity. We are not about poaching customers."
TinDirect was formed from the configuration and remarketing division of Apex Computers and may eventually be spun off into a separate company.
- Reseller Digica has won a £1.7m, three-year contract to supply Tibbett & Britten, a contract logistics and supply-chain management company, with outsourcing services. Digica will house and provide round-the-clock operations and technical support for Tibbett & Britten's mid-range servers.