Long search: Dell Ireland channel director Paul McCord
Dell has appointed Sharptext to distribute its products in Ireland, a year after the vendor first revealed it was looking for a distribution partner.
The appointment carries intriguing undertones given Sharptext’s longstanding relationship with Dell’s biggest rival, HP, which ended in 2009 when HP opted to transfer Irish distribution of its PCs and printers to Westcoast and Computer 2000.
Speaking about the deal, Dell Ireland channel director Paul McCord told Irish Computer that Sharptext would initially handle the vendor’s desktop and laptop ranges but had the option to take on its server and storage products in the future.
The vendor had chosen Sharptext because it was “very very good at what it does”, historically had one of the widest bases of partners in Ireland, and had more local control than many of the other distributors.
“It doesn’t have to run off to UK HQ [to make a decision],” he argued. “It was an Irish solution to an Irish problem for me.”
The appointment of a distributor would also help Dell to broaden its reseller base in Ireland, particularly to companies that may have been reluctant to deal with the vendor directly but would be more comfortable sourcing product from a distributor.
The search for a distributor appears to have taken significantly longer than Dell had predicted. In February 2010, McCord told Irish Computer that the firm was in the process of appointing a distributor, adding: “I expect you’ll hear something within the next quarter”.
Dell initially set its face against distribution when it announced its channel strategy in December 2007, but was forced to change tack after resellers complained that the PC maker’s build-to-order programme, with lead times of between three and seven days, was not meeting the requirements of resellers used to next-day delivery from distributors.
McCord confirmed that Sharptext’s appointment would help resellers to hit faster delivery SLAs with customers.
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