Solutions Charge

Veljovic says Global has great expectations in the solutions space this year.
Veljovic says Global has great expectations in the solutions space this year.

Mario M. Veljovic, VP Solutions MENA,Global Distribution FZE, says this year the company plans to grow is solutions distribution credentials

Global Distribution added a number of brands during the course of 2014. Talk us through the business model and the different business units you have currently?

MARIO M. VELJOVIC: Global Distribution has three main business units namely IT and Mobility Distribution, Private Label and Solutions Distribution. In the distribution units we have added a number of new distribution agreements and/or extended our existing distribution agreements to additional territories. In the IT and Mobility Distribution we have added ZTE, which is an exclusive distribution agreement for the UAE and (2) G-Smart Mobil Phones and extended our Product Offering into the Mobility segment. The IT Products has seen the addition of (1) SanDisk, (2) Toshiba and (3) Seagate/LaCie to new territories Global Distribution operates. Our Private Label has been successfully launched in India, Europe and the Americas. Especially in Latin America we have seen an overwhelming responds. We are planning to Launch the Middle East end of Q1 this year. The Solutions Distribution Team has built a complete stack of Enterprise IT Solutions Vendors to cater the growing Data Centre requirements in the MENA Region.

Talk us through your company’s operation and what business strategy you have adopted for the Middle East market in 2015?

The year 2014 was not just a year of expansion geographically and by adding new vendors, but it was also a year of building a strong central management team to further enhance operational efficiency. Key Achievements has been made in HR, Finance, Supply Chain/Logistics and Sales. We have expanded into new territories, such as: Latin America, Africa, South-East Europe and France. This year, we will continue to do a good job and explore further efficiency improvements. We even explore to move to a new Head Quarters in the second half of this year and getting all business we have in the UAE united under one roof.

How challenging is the IT distribution market at the moment across the region and how are you overcoming those challenges?

The IT distribution market has always been challenging and will always be challenging, not just in the Middle East, but all around the world. Operational excellence and tight controls are key to success, coupled with a sense to continuously accessing new Technology Trends. Global Distribution has continued to grow in double digit and achieved its financial goals, despite solid investments in new business and territories, which we are very proud of.

How many vendor brands do you currently represent within your value solutions stable at present?

The solutions portfolio today represents more than 15 enterprise vendors. These include High Performance Computing Unit, represents Fujitsu (Primergy Server), Optoma (AV Solutions) and HP. Our Enterprise Storage unit, addresses all requirements of Storage from tier one to Back up, and represents;) FusionIO (SanDisk), Pure Storage, Fujitsu (Externus Storage), Overland Storage, V3 VDI and Tandberg Data. The Software & NAS Unit promotes Kaspersky and SolarWinds on the Software side and QNAP, Seagate NAS and Synology, along with a comprehensive HDD and SSD Offering. Last but not least, we have our IT Infrastructure and Physical Security Unit, which offers; Linkcomn, Datwyler, ZyXel and Mobotix, helping to build “Layer-0” Infrastructures.

You distribute several brands in the Networking, IT Security, Data Storage and Security Surveillance. Are they any brands or solutions that are still missing in your product and solutions portfolio?

Today the Solutions Portfolio is able to address all data centre requirements, which comprises High Performance Computing, Enterprise Storage, IT Infrastructure and Physical Security, and Software (Mainly Infrastructure Monitoring). We have invested into new and proven technologies to ensure our Partners are getting the “best-of-breed” in each segment. There are a few more vendors we are in final discussion to complete missing elements. Areas we are still keen to develop in 2015 are (1) BI/Analytics, (2) Data Security, (3) Automatic Identification & Data Capturing (AIDC) and (4) Digital Signage, as those are still key industry trends, which are not seriously addressed by Competitors in the Region.

What core vertical markets is Global Distribution helping channel partners to target with the range of solutions you currently have in your stable?

Global’s wide product portfolio is today able to support our channel partners to cater to all verticals, such as retail, SMB/SME and large enterprises. The solutions distribution team in particular has developed a product portfolio to address key industry trends, such as out-of-the-box solutions, converged infrastructures, VDI and IP-based CCTV. All Solutions promoted are offering a strong “ROI”, which is a compelling argument for End-Users especially this year, as concerns over the regional Economy is felt. We already feel that End-Users C++ Levels are questioning the IT Departments what they have done to explore solutions away from the mainstream and usual suppliers.

How is Global Distribution address the issue of skills with your reseller partners in the Middle East?

The lack of skills in the Middle East has always been a challenge. However, with Customers being more demanding in terms of Service and Support, the Channel Community has to step up and truly embrace solutions selling and build a Service driven Business Model. Today, and I predict 2015 in particular, will be a year of selling “ROI” instead of “specifications”. For that, not just technical skills are key, even the Sales Team has to gear up to be able to address those challenges. On the Technical side, we have made investments in technical resources, which are available to Channel Partners who lack those skills. “service as a service”, if you like.

 

Comments

Comments