Fujitsu: Vendor consolidation will marginalise smaller VARs
Kevin Matthews pledges to offer partners sidelined by rebate programmes a "more personal approach"
Recent changes at Dell and HP will play into the hands of the very largest resellers, according to the new UK sales director of rival Fujitsu, who is positioning the firm as a champion of the smaller partners he claims will lose out.
Kevin Matthews started this week in the role of UK sales director for Fujitsu's Technology Product Group, having previously spent over 15 years at HP.
Talking to CRN, Matthews said his strategy is to "move the needle" with select partners, through specific sales activities in verticals such as education, rather than simply rewarding them through a generic rebate programme.
"When you look at the obvious changes in vendor land, be that HP separating or Dell consolidating, I think that represents an opportunity for Fujitsu, which isn't going through that change and has a really good set of infrastructure products and client devices," Matthews said.
"I see the consolidation and I think that will drive those vendors to focus even more on the very, very large VARs and I think there are a number of partners in the market that will benefit from a more personal approach from Fujitsu."
He added: "We all know that rebate programmes only really get traction at the very large reseller level. We have them at Fujitsu, but we have the opportunity to do something different with a certain subset of partners and really move the needle specifically on various sales activities."
Matthews' role combines the channel business previously overseen by Simon Worsfold, who recently departed the firm, and end-user sales. Matthews had been working with Fujitsu on a consultancy basis before that for five months.
Presumably referencing Lenovo, Matthews claimed there is only one other "stable" vendor that can offer complete end-to-end solutions.
"I think the crown jewels for Fujitsu in the enterprise space is our Eternus storage range," he said.
Justin Harling, managing director of CAE, one of two partners Matthews said he had recruited over the summer, praised the support Fujitsu is giving the VAR in the education space.
"What's really impressed me is the ability as a channel organisation to tap into the wider Fujitsu resources in that space to have joint conversations around not only the technology solution but also how you create employment, apprenticeships and programmes to help train teachers. That enables you to genuinely differentiate a solution for the market," Harling said.
Dave Stevinson, managing director of Entatech - one of five UK Fujitsu distributors alongside Ingram, Tech Data, Exertis and Arrow - said: "Being a Fujitsu-focused distributor, it is motivating to have someone of Kevin's gravitas, track record and expected focus on the enterprise space. This aligns closely with our own strategic goals in this arena."