Auspex opens NAS sales to the UK channel

Direct NAS vendor Auspex said it is moving into the UK channel, and has already appointed Ideal Hardware as one of its major distributors.

Direct NAS vendor Auspex said it is moving into the UK channel, and has already appointed Ideal Hardware as one of its major distributors.

Auspex, which claims to have introduced the world's first NAS system in 1987, has used the channel in Europe for a number of years, but has always been direct in the UK, according to Garry Elliott, UK country manager.

"We have had a lot of management changes, and now Auspex wants to widen the net as to who our product is suitable for," he said.

Elliott admitted that changing sales strategy was not easy and that there will be complications. "The last thing I want is to antagonise the channel," he said. "I understand that there will be times when our remaining direct salesforce will bump into our channel partners, but what we want is for our direct sales team to be passing leads on to our selected resellers."

Educating and selecting the right channel partners would be Auspex's biggest challenge, Elliott said, although he admitted the company would never become completely channel focused.

Elliott said the channel's increased awareness of higher-end products prompted the move. Although a lot of smaller resellers would not be able to cope with Auspex products, there were some high-end resellers that would be highly capable, he said.

Auspex appointed Ideal Hardware as its main UK distributor last week. The two companies will select appropriate resellers together, Elliott added.

Ian French, chief executive of Ideal Hardware, said: "Auspex represents the high end of the storage market, and our aim is to provide an end-to-end storage solution. Auspex has realised that even at the high-end of the market, the channel has a part to play."

Also published in Computer Reseller News