Samsung courts channel for B2B push

Vendor claims its expertise and success in consumer space will translate into huge opportunity in B2B space

Samsung is making a play for the B2B market in Europe and is keen to engage with the channel to grab a share of what it claims is a $66bn (£40.7bn) opportunity.

Speaking to a packed room at the Canalys Channels Forum 2013 event in Barcelona, Andrew Mills, vice president of enterprise business Europe at Samsung, unveiled a new channel programme and said the vendor wants to grow its B2B business so it delivers a "substantial" part of Samsung's revenue.

"B2B is where we are focusing our effort and investment," he said. "We are making significant investment to make it easier for you, the channel, to work with us."

He explained that a quarter of the vendor's entire workforce was dedicated to research and development.

"We are known for delivering outstanding products and devices to market, and these devices – tablets, smartphones, hybrid devices and laptops – are a result of a company-wide focus on innovation," he said.

As a result, Samsung is launching the STEP Programme, which stands for Samsung Team of Empowered Partners. Under the scheme, partners will be grouped into Silver, Gold and Platinum levels, with access to benefits such as a portal, deal registration, technical and sales support and training.

Stressing the firm's channel commitment, he said: "There are some vendor companies that are not channel friendly but I want to make it clear our strategy is to be channel centric, now and in the future.

"The way to capture opportunities is to connect products and solutions together to provide the full business experience and that is where our channel partners come in. You are the lynchpin to that full service experience."

As a result, Samsung has doubled the number of people working in B2B across Europe, and plans to double it again by 2014, he revealed.

"We want to be the market leader in digital enterprise," Mills said. "We are in this for the long haul and we need to form long-term partnerships to benefit all of us. We need to meet the needs of channel partners in a way we have never done in the past. Our STEP programme is there to address key issues that have made it difficult to engage with Samsung in the past.

"In recent years Samsung has not punched its weight in the B2B market, but we want to change that and find the right partners to make that happen."