VARs have a need for speed when it comes to disties - Context

Survey of 3,500 resellers across EMEA reveals a distribution wish list that might surprise some

When it comes to distribution, speed of service is at the top of most resellers’ wish lists across western Europe.

This is according to market watcher Context, which surveyed 3,500 resellers across the region, to find out what their biggest needs were from their distribution partners.

Context’s ChannelWatch series has a database of more than 7,000 resellers across EMEA which are regularly quizzed about topical channel issues. These include Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Hungary. VARs in Saudi Arabia and UAE are also part of the survey.

Another important issue for those questioned was web interface, Context revealed, as VARs transact an increasing amount of their business with distributors remotely online.

Surprisingly, training and technical support were not seen as high-priority services by those questioned, but also near the top of the group lists were ease of doing business, and price transparency.

Andy Dow, group marketing director at Tech Data, agreed that speed was essential.

"Speed of service is without doubt one of the most important services for distributors to deliver, whether this is over queries, pre-sales or delivery. That is a huge priority for us.

"It is also interesting about the web interface – it is very important for Tech Data to offer businesses a positive web experience and our web tools are designed to make life easier for resellers."

But he was surprised at the response to training and support.

"We have a wealth of technical support, training and accreditation offerings, and those are always used to the max and in demand. Particularly accreditation training, where the demand is enormous," he said.