Fujitsu gives channel a dose of Antidote
Vendor's marketing campaign aims to cut processes
Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC) is gunning for Hewlett-Packard (HP), Dell and IBM with its new Antidote channel and marketing campaign.
Due to launch on 1 June, the campaign is designed to give resellers fast access to discounting as well as end-user marketing.
Ian Snadden, director of SME and channel sales at FSC, claimed the programme is the antidote to "too much reliance on direct competition from vendors (resellers) may have considered as partners in the past".
"We want to eliminate some of the cumbersome processes that have dogged IBM and HP's relations with the channel in the past few years," he said.
"HP is constantly re-organising. It is chewing on the whole elephant and can't seem to swallow it. We've seen a lot of disaffected HP resellers."
FSC will offer pre-approved special pricing to make it easier for resellers to win business on the spot.
James Governor, principal analyst at RedMonk, said: "It sounds like a great idea, if the company can cut down on processes. All vendors have tried to cut down on processes in the past, but without it, you get things like channel stuffing and poor revenue control.
"FSC can't let itself get too laissez-faire. The problem is that vendors either have a very tightly managed supply chain or completely the opposite. It's very tough to find a middle ground."
Antidote's marketing to end-users will aim to capitalise on the four-year desktop computer refresh cycle that has been identified by Gartner Group.
Other elements will include targeting enterprise computing and efforts to push the vendor's mobile Connect 2 Air programme.
Steve McNairn, marketing manager at reseller AK IT Solutions, said: "Our sales teams have to spend a lot of time negotiating with suppliers.
"Most of our sales are client-led, so this won't necessarily mean that we sell more FSC products, but anything that saves our sales teams time on the purchase process is great."