Reseller fears over ESD pilot

UK resellers have expressed fears that they will be undercut on price after IBM and US clearing house Cybersource indicated they will set up an electronic software distribution pilot.

Cybersource will set up a UK office during the course of the next month. It will jointly develop services with IBM, including online currency conversion facilities.

Sheryl Barnes, senior manager for electronic commerce at Lotus, said by the fourth quarter, UK and Northern European users will be able to buy products from IBM and Lotus from resellers hosting online download sites.

But one Lotus and Microsoft reseller said: ?The worry is that resellers in countries such as Germany and the US, where the VAT is lower, will be able to undercut UK dealers.?

Microsoft distribution sales manager Geoff Wright warned that ?resellers needed to act now to develop a compelling site from which to set up an online shop?. He said electronic software distribution would not replace the vendor?s Select or Molp volume programmes.