Toshiba bets big on small business in UK channel push

PC vendor launches new schemes and products and eyes continental partner recruitment

Toshiba has set its sights on dominating the SMB PC market across Europe.

To that end, the Japanese vendor has launched a raft of channel initiatives and wants to recruit partners across the continent to sell its new notebook that is aimed squarely at the SMB space. Neil Bramley, Toshiba's B2B sales director for Northern Europe, claimed the firm "wants to be the leading vendor" in the SMB market across the region.

"We believe it is time that a vendor set out with the proposition to meet the needs of the SMB marketplace and worked with partners to realise that to the fullest extent," he said. "It is a vast market, and one of great opportunity, but one that may have perhaps used consumer-orientated devices to date. Now, with the amount of additional complexity [facing SMBs], it is important that a vendor produces dedicated products for the marketplace."

This week Toshiba launched an SMB-targeted addition to its range of Satellite Pro devices. The R50-B laptop aims to offer smaller firms enterprise-grade technology at a price - namely £299 - that is apt for the SMB market.

To support the launch the vendor is giving its channel offering across the region a spruce up, including a new multilingual sales and support call centre and a raft of marketing initiatives and MDF investments.

"[The] call centre will be available to partners as a central point of communication; it will also have both a proactive and reactive engagement with the SMB end-user community," explained Bramley. "We are making substantial investments above and below the line, and taking... a value proposition to them, rather than just a price- and spec-led campaign. This is about understanding and addressing the needs of that SMB market."

Toshiba launched a new channel programme last year, and Bramley asserted that he wants to sign up VARs across Europe - including the UK, Ireland, France, the DACH, Benelux, and Iberia regions, Turkey, Poland and further into eastern Europe - to help drive the vendor's SMB business forward.

"On a European basis IT is a market that is a powerhouse of the economy; SMB organisations need to move forward and grow, but they need to do so with the right IT topography and the right services and confidence in their partners," he said.

"As a mobile IT provider, we have been doing this longer and more consistently than any other vendor - we are now approaching our 30th anniversary of providing devices into the consumer and business community. We are known and understood and have a brand identified with quality and innovation."