17 March 2008
by Paul Kunert
Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC) has shelved the Elite accreditation in favour of a pan-European scheme it said will boost channel marketing funds but will require entry-level partners to sell more to achieve it.
Under Elite, launched in 2000, entry-level partners needed to sell £150,000 of FSC kit a year to become certified, but to qualify as a Select or Select Expert, resellers will need to cross a £500,000 revenue threshold.
Ian Newall, UK director of SME and channel sales at the vendor, said it had not been as tough with partners meeting the criteria of Elite as it could have been and that was a mistake it would not repeat.
"Resellers have to show they are working toward a business plan to get to the half a million mark. We will police it and those who haven’t met the agreed target will be removed from the accreditation programme," said Newall.
There are currently slightly over 400 Elite resellers and Newall expected "most but not all" to make the transition to Select.
On top of the financial targets resellers will need to commit to free training courses (up to ten per cent of staff) and Select Experts will have product and vertical specialisations yet to be defined.
In return, Newall said FSC planned to drive a higher level of marketing funds in the channel and could use the pan-European scheme to "leverage higher investment" though he refused to state what that figure would be.
Tony Price, managing director at Wstore, said additional marketing support was needed to strengthen FSC’s hand against larger vendors in the channel, "I always welcome additional marketing funds."
The Elite scheme had run its course, said Loay Lawrence, marketing and commercial director at Vohkus: "The previous programme was not working in the current environment."
