Stone Group to cement channel presence
UK PC builder says it needs resellers to fulfil demand for new NUC and Integrum offerings
British system builder Stone Group claims it can offer resellers higher margins and a better service than HP, Dell and Lenovo as it aims to double its channel presence.
The Staffordshire-based outfit wants to double partner numbers from 10 to 20 this year, partly to fulfil the demand it claims to be enjoying for its new products, including its NUC ultra-compact PC and Integrum converged server and storage appliance.
Despite selling primarily direct, public sector specialist Stone also works hand in hand on large tenders with the likes of Capita, Civica and Mouchel.
"Now we have a broader range of products, particularly on the infrastructure side, our appeal itself has broadened," said Steve Norman, Stone Group's business development director.
"My role is to find resellers we can work with and add real value to."
Norman said Stone differentiates itself from other OEMs by offering its partners field-based, as well as desk-based account management, on top of recourse to its customer finance options and recycling facilities. Stone has 70 engineers out in the field, he said.
"We are bringing something they don't get from their current suppliers," Norman said. "When people are going in with HP, Lenovo, Dell and Toshiba, so is everyone else and it becomes so price driven. With our products, that's not the case."
"If you look at the NUC or Integrum, which is a SAN/server in one box, they are perfect reseller products as they allow them to compete with the likes of HP and Dell rigorously but also put a service wrap around it."
Norman admitted prospective resellers could potentially bump into Stone's direct salesforce but said in that instance "we would protect them and their margins".
He maintained that Stone, which recently made it on to the new pan-public sector Technology Products framework, offers a genuine alternative to fellow UK system builder Zoostorm, which is dedicated to the channel.
"We offer the reseller a much closer relationship than Zoostorm, who are fundamentally a PC builder on request," he said. "We are much more than that in terms of our services wrap and presence on the ground.
"The channel is a small part of our revenues but I see it in 2015 as an increasingly important part of what we do as a business. This is a genuine appeal to resellers to say come and work with us."
Alicia Shepherd, head of B2B sales at Zoostorm owner CMS Computers, stressed that Zoostorm was 100 per cent channel focused and that its account managers collectively have over 100 years' experience.
"Zoostorm builds on our resellers' accreditations and strengths rather than reverse-engineering framework agreements to suit our own purposes," she said.
"In my experience, mixing a direct and non-direct customer approach can be challenging and exhaust energy from both sides where there may be a conflict of interests, particularly when the company in question has a large footprint in end-user sales."