IT, AV, UC: the convergence of enterprise technology is at the heart of the way in which the world now works.
Digital hardware and software; audio video equipment; unified communication solutions – all are formerly-separate but now inextricably-connected inter-dependencies upon which businesses large and small are thriving.
The smart ones outsource their needs to experts: Managed Service Providers, System Integrators, and Value-Added Resellers for whom that same convergence presents similar opportunities to succeed and grow.
In the IT channel, of course, partnership is key to any success. After all, it is a largely wholesale environment in which the fortunes of individual players depend on mutuality – when one party does well, everyone does well. For MSPs, SIs, and VARs looking to capitalise, vendor relationships are perhaps the most important partnership of all. Get it right, and doing business becomes both easy and profitable.
“The convergence of IT and communication technology has changed the way in which end user organisations consume and manage both those components of their business – the ability for their provider partners to source it all from one vendor can deliver huge gains for all parties,” says Jamie Brothwell, Chief Sales and Commercial Officer at specialist AV technology distributor Exertis AV, whose unified communication and collaboration-focused offering is the perfect case in point.
“Against that converged backdrop, when it comes to selling and servicing AV solutions in particular, it is important that MSPs, SIs, and VARs partner with a supplier that understands the significance of that new unified market and has the products, the services, and the specialisms to help them win.”
In the case of Exertis AV, its go-to-market strategy is based on five key pillars: stellar stock availability and delivery; at-scale demonstration capability; expert technical support; game-changing credit terms; and impressive sustainability credentials.
Individually, those pillars enhance technology service providers’ abilities to address customers’ individual, practical day-to-day needs efficiently and cost-effectively. However, as a whole, they offer a solid platform upon which those providers can leverage the broader unified communication opportunity.
“Of course, it’s about offering the right products and solutions to our service provider customers, at the right price and with the right support, but it’s also very much about adding extra value wherever we can,” says Brothwell.
“In today’s modern world in which work-from-anywhere and hybrid working models are normal for so many businesses, that convergence of IT and UC with AV needs to be seamless. That’s when the quality of the user experience soars. We help support that by sharing our expertise in UC&C in ways that enable our service provider customers to do the same with their end user customers. That’s the added value I’m talking about.”
Specifically, Exertis AV has honed its offering by reducing the number of brands it carries whilst simultaneously increasing its overall stock holding. It has invested heavily in a giant, state-of-the-art warehouse and distribution centre that delivers impressive 99.4% next day delivery success, and it is developing a new two-person ‘white gloves’ service for heavy and more fragile products.
Also, service providers are encouraged to bring end user customers to visit Exertis AV’s new demonstration facilities comprising over 50 fully-equipped meetings rooms; and more than £100,000-worth of demonstration kit is available for pre-sale loan.
“We are fully-focused on ensuring we offer everything AV resellers need to retain existing customers and attract new ones,” says Brothwell. “AV and UC&C are now vital components of every organisation’s technology and communications stack, and those stacks are more unified than they have ever been. We understand that new landscape, are specialist enablers of those new technological ecosystems, and passionate champions of the channel.
I believe that is a potent combination of factors capable of driving success for everyone.”
To learn more about how your and your customers’ businesses can benefit from AV/UC convergence, visit the website.
