BTIC's £60m plan
Telco intends to put IP and system sales through the channel
BT Indirect Channels (BTIC) told CRN last week that it intends to put another £60m worth of IT business through the channel next year.
"Half of the new business will come from things such as IP VPNs and Frame Relay, and the other half from selling systems," said Chris Jagusz, chapter manager at BTIC. "We are no longer talking about convergence, but about specific IP benefits. Convergence is no longer a big deal. It has gained acceptance."
The company will lead with a pre-packaged CRM solution, Contact Central, aimed at businesses with 30- to 100-seat call centres. It will also provide value-added services with its broadband offerings to enable resellers to build e-commerce offerings.
Other products aimed at increasing channel sales include SDSL and Mobile Office, a package designed to make it easy to obtain a Wi-Fi connection.
"We could generate the £60m of new business by just working with large partners, but we intend to do more work with smaller resellers through distribution," said Jagusz.
Raj Dave, chief technical officer at BT wholesaler Corporate Communications, said smaller resellers buying through distribution is good for larger resellers such as his firm.
"There might be a conflict potentially, but there are different market segments for larger resellers and for the distribution channel," he said.
"Larger resellers that buy wholesale get a bill from BT, and then bill their customers. Those buying through distribution need not have the sort of infrastructure that is required to do that.
"As smaller customers become larger companies, they usually have trouble controlling their spending. They might end up having things they don't need, and that's where a reseller that handles cost control for them can really help."