Go East, Young man
HEXUS.channel has been speaking to vendors as they set up for IT Channel Vision Europe in Rome and many have stated that, while Western Europe is dominated by tier one PC vendors, there are still rich pickings further east.
Around a third of SI delegates at the event are expected to come from Russia alone, while it is estimated that smaller SIs (system integrators) shifted four million units in Turkey last year.
Head of OEM at BullGuard, Robert Oostergetel (pictured) said ‘The UK, France and Iberian peninsula tend to be dominated by the tier ones, but Germany and many European countries east of it still have a strong local SI market.’
A subsequent conversation with Intel's EMEA reseller channel head, Nigel Towell confirmed that he pretty much sees it that way too.
The jackpot appears to be Russia, where tier one penetration is relatively low and the potential enormous.
Of course there are unique challenges to doing business in Russia, but vendors that can overcome those could be on to a winner.
