Will a growing channel upset the Apple cart?
Channel players have gone to great lengths to tap into the mushrooming demand for Apple products, but how big an opportunity is it?
The past 18 months have seen a marked rise in the number of B2B channel firms talking up their Apple credentials, as demand for the vendor’s products in the SMB and enterprise markets has soared.
Integrator SCC, peripherals distributor VIP Computers and system builder Stone have all made their first forays into the Apple channel this year, while others have gone to great lengths to reinforce their ongoing commitment to the brand.
Corporate reseller Insight has been an Apple-certified partner since 2005 and it claims to be one of the vendor’s top 10 resellers in the UK.
Earlier this month, the firm took the wraps off its Insight Apple Solutions division, which provides support services to enterprise users of iPads, iPhones and other iOS devices.
The division is being headed up by Tony Brooker, Insight’s EMEA vice president of sales, who enjoyed a three-year stint as a general sales manager at Apple Premium Reseller (APR) Cancom in the mid-90s.
Speaking to Channelweb, Emma de Sousa, regional vice president, UK and Northern Europe at Insight, said the division’s launch was part of its strategy to become Apple’s top enterprise supplier.
“There are a few factors working in our favour, as we push these services out to our existing enterprise clients,” she said. “For example, the growing demand for Apple hardware and the popularity of bring-your-own-device schemes in the workplace.”
Robert Peckham, chief executive of IT services company MacTechnology, said the launch of Windows 7 has helped businesses to adopt Apple devices in the workplace.
“The integration between the Windows 7 and Apple’s Snow Leopard and Lion operating systems is now surprisingly tight, and it is easier for businesses to introduce Macs into PC environments,” explained Peckham.
“This has led to an upturn in corporate purchases for Macs, and it is not just creative types buying them any more.”
For these reasons, we can expect to see more VARs jumping on the Apple bandwagon this year, predicts Peckham - but making a success of it will prove to be difficult.
“There is very little margin to be made by selling Apple products - which is probably why Insight is going after the services and support piece,” he said.
“The consumer and SMB market is also completely covered by Apple, the APR channel and the likes of PC World. The real opportunity is the enterprise market, as Insight rightly states, but unless you are selling into that sector already, it is going to be very difficult to make it work.”
This is a view partially shared by Chris Peluso, regional sales director for EMEA at communications software vendor Kerio Technologies.
“The channel will need to sell a lot of units to make any margin on Apple products, but it is not impossible,” stressed Peluso.
“To do that, they should use the popularity of Apple’s iOS devices as an entry point to the rest of Apple’s desktop, laptop and server portfolio, because tablets and smartphones are not primary workplace devices.”