Distribution Outlook 2012

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Content s

Overview Happy Days are here Again - 5 Vivek Sharma VAR MEA Magazine

In Focus Mindware Makes all the Right Moves - 6 Mario Gay General Manager at Mindware discusses the shifting market paradigms.

Success is Second Nature at Redington - 8 Aloysius Fernandes, President, IT Volume MEA reveals what the market can expect in the next year.

Forward Thinking Keeps Optimus Ahead - 10,11 Ms. Meera Kaul, Managing Director reveals the story behind the company’s success.

Golden Systems Moves to Cover its Bases - 12

Ehsan Hashemi, COO, on how the regional market is changing and Golden System’s place within the distribution business

Variety Remains Key for ScreenCheck - 14

ScreenCheck has introduced state of the art identification technologies Faisal Mohamed explains.

On Positive Path - 16

Arun at Trigon discusses how the company continues to endure despite a challenging environment.

Success by Design - 18

Founder and Chairman Ralph Mendonca share their vision for a company clearly poised for even greater heights of success.

Gerabsys bolsters local foothold - 20

Fancy Joseph, General Manager explains how this strategy continues to bear fruit for the company.

Mitsumi’s Grand African Ambitions - 22

Jagat Shah Chairman & CEO, Mitsumi will count on its vast experience and infrastructure to ride the inevitable ICT boom

MES on Steady Ground - 24

Omar Lutfi, MES General Manager, in an exclusive interview with VAR, sheds light on the company’s current situation and future plans.

Accolades | Buraida Miles Ahead of Competion - 22

Being recognised by a vendor as the best distributor is an impressive feat. Doing so two years running is simply brilliant. And yet that is exactly what Nazeer C.P, Managing Director at Buraida Computers has done.

Special supplement by P.O. Box: 121075, Montana Building 404, Zabeel Road, Near GPO, Karama, DubaiUAE, Tel: 04-3705022 Fax: 04-3706639 Disclaimer: While the publishers have made every attempt possible to get accurate information on published content in this handbook they cannot be held liable for any errors herein.

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Distribution Outlook 2012

Overview | Distribution

Happy Days are Here Again Distribution has always been the most challenging task in the IT supply chain. As the block is perfectly centered between vendors and resellers, in harmony distributors must meet the demands of both with eye on achieving their business objectives. It is definitely not the role which most companies would love to play if given the choice.

In a region marked by changing demand/supply landscape, to run a planned supply chain is both taxing and challenging. Many brands work on 16-weeks product supply planning with their distributors with a minimum 8-week locking period. Planning requires serious thought for distributors to confirm orders with corresponding brands and develop strategies to make a serious push.

No vendor plans for flat growth year-on-year. The sum of all vendor growth plans and expectations further create a huge pressure cooker situation for distributors to be broken into quarter on quarter action-packed roller coaster ride. Since 2008, credits are getting squeezed and all distributors have over the past year been working with their partDistribution Outlook 2012

ners, credit insurance companies and banks walking on a thin line with the only option of either balance or fall.

Mature distribution companies took the acquisition route to create stronger operations and fight the downward trends in sales. The big distributors also took this as an opportunity to consolidate, replicating global trends of mega retailers and setting an open war with mom and pop shops.

Value Add Distribution (VAD) incidentally grew and can now truly be referred as the “all-terrain vehicle” as it had proved over the last years that companies focused on VAD businesses generated healthier bottom-line, acquired new vendors and expanded operations.

Tough times have seen the toughest emerge winners. This scenario will definitely be at play here especially now with the entry of new distribution companies and the VAD segment coming up. Also distributors are getting creative in managing growth by focusing on their niches, being clear in their choice of vendors and rational in target achievement promises to

their vendors. Distributors are also working on extended services rather than just pushing products.

Now they are involved in consultancy solutions and services to end corporate customers while having teams focused exclusively on retail management.

Africa looks to be the “Big Focus” as it’s both a promising market and historically attached to trade routes in Dubai. Lots of distribution companies from Africa have further invested in their Dubai operations and actively engaging vendors for distribution rights.

Next this market will further propel and sure offers a great opportunity.

Distribution is here to stay, changes are taking place and we all know “there is nothing permanent but change!” Change has always brought progress and is a constant stimulant to the human mind.

Well it’s safe to say for distributors “Happy Days are here Again”

Vivek Sharma VAR MEA Magazine [5]

In Focus | Mindware

Mindware Makes all the Right Moves Mario Gay General Manager, Mindware

How do you see the distribution scenario changing in the region?

How is it being challenged by various trends including growth of power retail? Is consolidation the need of the hour?

We are seeing consolidation happening in two forms: first many small vendors being acquired by large enterprise and at distribution level the large MNC Distributors setting stronger presence in the region and acquiring local ones. On the retail side definitely the large power retailers are marginalizing the small ones with a broad offer of product and immediate availability and with extremely competitive prices in the consumer segment.

What are the value add benefits you offer your channel as a VAD (value add distributor)?

We would like to position ourselves as super VAD from the perspective of generating leads to partners and up to support[6]

Consolidation in the IT industry as well as in the reseller channel continues to gather pace. Mario Gay General Manager at Mindware discusses the shifting market paradigms.

ing the partners to close the business with the end users. This is currently what Mindware does very well with certain products and our objective is to extend this model.

Discuss how the key growth areas for the company over the year?

2012 is set to close on a more than positive note after two and half year of recession. We have seen positive growth in all business segments and in all the markets that we operate in.

This definitely generates a lot of optimism for the future and specifically for the coming year.

Are there any new vendor tieups announced of late in areas like cloud computing, virtualisation, storage/networking etc?

We are happy to announce the partnership with Emerson Network power and Motorola Wireless; Two vendors that do not

need much of an introduction and we are extremely happy to begin the new journey with them Do components continue to be a strong focus for you?

Component business has been an important part of our revenues until two years ago. Over distribution and the shift to branded PC has compromised the ability to invest further. It is a business that we know well and that we would still like to maintain strong in our portfolio but it requires a different strategic view for the future.

Discuss your growing focus on emerging markets We started in North Africa two years ago and then we have slowed down for obvious reasons.

I still believe that threre is an opportunity to grab as there is a strong opportunity in countries like Kenya where we have had so far only an opportunistic approach.

Distribution Outlook 2012

Distribution Outlook 2012

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In Focus | Redington

Success is Second Nature at Redington Aloysius Fernandes President, IT Volume MEA, Redington

Redington is a true regional distribution powerhouse. The company has evolved from being an IT products distributor to a fully integrated supply chain solution and service provider, with a portfolio of 32 global brands, and growing. Aloysius Fernandes, President, IT Volume MEA at Redington Gulf looks back at another successful year and reveals what the market can expect in the next one.

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Looking back since last year, discuss your achievements from where you stand now Redington made great strides in different avenues last year.

Investments were made in setting up new businesses. We entered new market, re-organized existing structures and processes to be more responsive to our partners and consumer trends and also expanded the brand portfolio considerably.

Elaborate on key strategic programs that led to your overall success Strategic initiatives were spread across the MEA region and included changes to the internal and external processes and organizations structure. Whenever markets posed an opportunity, measures were taken to explore them in depth and steps taken to circumvent any challenges. The overall ethos was to be at close to the partners with the brands and products we distribute.

In addition, we invested in new businesses, entered new markets and re-organised ourselves to be more responsive to our partners.

We were also able to sign up new strategic vendors and expand our portfolio.

Discuss your strategy going into next year Business processes have been sharpened to be more productive and efficient with response to both vendors and partners alike.

We will continue to consolidate our existing businesses and focus on new initiatives started in 2011.

These include further growth in KSA, East, West and North Africa with a focus on CIS operations.

What challenges would you say are affecting your day to day operations as well as long- term growth prospects?

In today’s market, the most pressing issue is the distribution space, multiple distributors and limited resellers selling same or similar products. This puts a lot of pressure on the players resulting in higher risks and lower returns.

Nevertheless, there have been positive indicators from cash flow and lending perspectives, which is good. On the other hand, parts of the region are still recovering from the instability created by political upheavals during the last year.

Distribution Outlook 2012

In Focus | Optimus

Forward Thinking Keeps Optimus Ahead Optimus’ comprehensive approach to marketing and distribution has kept it in good stead in a famously hyper-competitive regional market. Ms. Meera Kaul, Managing Director, Optimus Technology and Telecommunications, reveals the story behind the company’s success.

Do you see the distribution business challenged by the evolving trends in the industry? How do you see the role of the distributor changing?

IT distribution is coming in for a big change. It might be a little too early to predict the adoption in our markets, due to challenges in the adoption of new technology and business models; nevertheless, there will be a correction in the model to benefit product distributors like Optimus that seek value support. The Middle East channel is fragmented in its evolution of the technology curve.

As such, while some countries are starting the infrastructure phase of their evolution; some countries are in a consolidation stage with their technology framework. The opportunities for growth are immense and are a function of how quickly the channel recognizes the growing needs of their customer base. The channel needs to move away from positioning their product portfolio to a strategy of [ 10 ]

customizing their offering to the needs of their customers.

The Channel will recognize the value of its distributor by measuring their effectiveness, not only on numbers, but on basis of: • Extent of investment in vendor technologies • Sales of Vendor advanced technology portfolio • End customer satisfaction with partner on vendor product sales • Number of transactions • End Partner profitability What in your perspective is actual value distribution? Are Wafa and the Optimus Academy some of these value propositions that you bring to market?

Optimus is one of the few Value Added Distributors in the region that has executed the value model in its essence. The services we provide include channel partner capacity building through channel credit facilities, training sessions and channel enablement

Meera Kaul Managing Director, Optimus

on new technologies and products and driving end customer engagement to increase business for partners. Optimus provides to our channel a full service partner portal to facilitate online support and redressal of channel business.

We also support partners with limited financial abilities to execute large business deals. We are also one of the few distributors who offer local stocking options to our channel.

We offer our channel partners value-added services such as mapping business process to technology, technical and product training, pre-sales and post-sales support, lead generation through its inside sales desk, marketing services and technical support services. We also offer our existing channel partners facilities through our Business Partner Portal to enable self-serve mode of service in a more efficient manner.

Our channel business is driven Distribution Outlook 2012

by more specialized consultative solution selling partners, greater focus on training and enabling better end customer implementations and fulfillment. We are supporting our channel to sell deeper into accounts and support technology across end customer solution implementations.

Through Optimus Academy, we train, support and strengthen our channel qualitatively on behalf of our vendor partners. Last year, we launched WAFA, our loyalty programme to acknowledge our performing channel partners and value their growing business with us. WAFA is a tiered Loyalty program launched to reward our loyal partners by ensuring that the more they spend with us the more they earn back. Through this program, our channel partners are able to earn and redeem the accumulated points for conducting business with Optimus.

Which have been the key focus technology areas for you as a distributor? As I notice your portfolio seems to be spread out from Jabra to Avaya to Molex etc?

Technology is not limited by industry categories. Technology is the enabler of efficient verticals, if aligned properly to the business objectives. We are always looking at the latest global technology trends and use our local presence in Silicon Valley to bring the latest technology, global best practices and training programs to the Middle East. We scout for new products and solutions, which will complement our existing product Distribution Outlook 2012

portfolio. Our aim is to offer customers a complete solution to meet their requirements and the needs of their end customers.

Optimus has been providing products and services across different solution parameters to enable and enhance its partners’ revenues.

We distribute Avaya’s Unified Communications and Contact Centre solutions and related services; Data networking, wireless, security & storage solutions from Netgear; Molex’s interconnect products from electronic and fiber optic interconnects to switches and application tooling; modular UPS systems from Opti-UPS, innovative headset solutions from Jabra; authentication solutions from Swivel; simple-to-use, innovative backup & data recovery solutions from Quest Software; endpoint security and virtualization security products from Bitdefender; and servers and storage solutions from Acer to name some.

that of the reseller focus industries. Optimus has consolidated its portfolio to meet such business demands and is able to cater to verticals across varied domains.

Discuss new markets and territories that you are focusing on?

We have built a very strong channel network across the MENA region in the last four years. This year, we are planning to increase our focus in countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan.

How has the growth been on a year on year basis?

Optimus has grown significantly since the company’s inception in 2008. The company has expanded its portfolio to include security and networking products in addition to the telecommunications products it started out with. Apart from the Middle East, Optimus has also strengthened its channel network in Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Which are the technologies that you would like to strengthen your portfolio?

We are a solutions provider and hence all the products in our portfolio are important for us. We will be announcing some important aspects of our growth portfolio by the next quarter.

2012 has been a great year for Optimus. We have achieved significant growth in revenues over the previous year and this was only possible because we expanded our business into new markets, added new vendor partners, increased our partner enablement and training programs and ensured proper inventory planning.

Bringing a value proposition to our channel entails having an entire solution portfolio that may be designed to meet the requirements of the end customer and

Our channel development programs and initiatives are the reason why we have achieved stronger sales and market share for our vendor partners. [ 11 ]

In Focus | Golden System

Golden Systems Moves to Cover its Bases

Ehsan Hashmi COO, Middle East, Golden System

Ehsan Hashemi, COO of Golden Systems Middle East, on how the regional market is changing and Golden System’s place within the distribution business.

List the current brands that you are associated with for distribution We are partners with such vendors as Gigabyte, Kingmax, Coolermaster, ZOTAC, Nvidia, Intel, Epson, Kingston, ASUS, Logitech, PNY, WD, Kaspersky, Axtrom, Bit defender, AMD, GDATA. We thus offer integrated solutions covering software, storage, networking and security.

Describe your distribution and infrastructure facilities We carry our regional operations from our facilities at Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai. From here, we distribute our goods across the region in the GCC, Iraq, Jordan, CIS countries, Lebanon, and Syria.

As growth in many of the regional economies slow down, how are distributors responding to remain relevant in a changing market scenario As the volume of ICT business through the traditional channel shrinks, the competition amongst distributors increase. This cycle forces the distributors to provide added value offerings to the channel. Some of the tools that distributors use are flexible pay-

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ment terms, after sales service and prompt product delivery/logistics.

Discuss some of the realities facing distributors in the region The main challenge is that the component market is shrinking.

As a solution, we have been focusing on expanding our business in other segments such as peripherals and mobility products. Credit limits have also been revised to become more practical and appropriate. With this change, there are lesser chances of delinquencies.

Describe your partner incentive/ reward programs We have several channel initiatives and programs in place to help increase the confidence of our channel partner to sell more effectively. We have our Avardz loyalty program to reward our partners for their performance.

We offer strong after sales support to our partners in addition to supporting them in their marketing initiatives. This year, we have increased our engagement with our partners, focused on channel training and increased our value added offerings.

Distribution Outlook 2012

Distribution Outlook 2012

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In Focus | ScreenCheck

Variety Remains Key for ScreenCheck

Faisal Mohammed General Manager, ScreenCheck

Security remains a constant worry for many organizations and businesses. To ease their minds, ScreenCheck has introduced to the market some state of the art identification technologies as Faisal Mohamed, General Manager at ScreenCheck, explains.

You have consistently being expanding your portfolio not just in terms of brands but also technologies since you began operations in 2003. Please discuss.

We started our business in 2003 with card printers and fingerprint devices. Being a distributor whose core value is the customer relationship, we got a lot of request [ 14 ]

from our resellers to add the other products in our portfolio as well. This encouraged us to add other product lines like currency counterfeit detectors, RF ID, POS etc. Now our dealers can get all the identification products under one roof with a single point of contact.

Discuss technological trends in the identification industry with emphasis on the Middle East NFC is today the emerging technology in the card industry. More and more smart phones are today equipped with NFC technology and credit cards are already started to move in. Long range RF ID using the UHF technology is becoming popular in asset tracking, manufacturing, inventory, retail, healthcare etc. One of the biggest security threat the region facing today is the identification of the person. It can be a visual identification of the person using a secure ID card or granting access to a secured area using the biometric credentials. Secure ID and access control products are implementing by even the small organizations in the region.

Which brands and solutions do you offer in the region?

We have a complete range of

products in the identification domain from people identification to counterfeit currency identification. Our products use different technologies for identification like smart cards, RF ID, fingerprint, facial recognition, infra-red, visual imaging technology etc.

We distribute the world’s leading brands in this domain like Zebra, Datacard, Evolis, Dors, Impinj, Suprema etc.

You have expanded your resale channel extensively since ScreenCheck came along. Discuss your growth strategy as well as your channel partnerships in the region We currently cover 25 countries in the MEA region. Today our strength is our active reseller network spread in these 25 countries.

Our business model is to strongly focus on the identification industry and all the complementary products under one roof made us stand out from the crowd. Our model has been accepted by the market and our reseller feedback and input is guiding us to enter to the new complementary product lines. It is a niche market but rapidly growing.

Distribution Outlook 2012

CONFUSED ?

ScreenCheck Middle East provides a wide basket of products from world’s leading brands in Auto ID industry ranging from Identification, Barcoding, Point of Sale, Biometrics etc. It envisages for the channel partners, a one stop point for all business requirements. Factory trained technical consultants from ScreenCheck ensure that the customers pick the right components for their solutions and also offer dedicated help desk support.

ID CARD PRINTERS

BIOMETRIC READERS

POINT OF SALE

BARCODE PRODUCTS

ID CARD PRINTER CONSUMABLES AND ACCESSORIES

ScreenCheck Middle East FZ. LLC, Office 1712, Grosvenor Business Tower, Tecom, Dubai, UAE. Tel: +971 4 3910707, Fax: +971 4 3245107 Email: info@screencheckme.com| www.screencheckme.com.

CURRENCY MACHINES

In Focus | Trigon

Trigon on Positive Path Arun Chawla CEO, Trigon

Arun at Trigon discusses how the company continues to endure despite a challenging environment.

While we have moved into the 4th quarter of the current year, has the outlook improved for the region’s market or have the challenges increased?

Business in the region is still weak and business has not grown as has been projected or budgeted.

Distribution especially seems to be at crossroads as the volumes of ICT business through the traditional channel shrink. However we are hopeful that business will turn around as the rest of the economy does. We have signed up with few more brands like 3M, Acer, Optoma and Transcend to take advantage of the expected turnaround.

Has the sell out in the channel been a concern?

Yes channel business continues to be a concern both in terms of stock movement, payments and gross margins. Looking at the market condition locally and regional, we are only supplying the quantities required by channel partners and are not building any inventory pressure. Thus we are helping partners conduct quality business.

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What is your focus right now in terms of new growth and markets?

Our focus remains to build up product mix suitable for channel, retail and corporate. In 2012 especially, much more attention has been given towards product lines for the corporate sector. We also continue to concentrate on GCC and African market. In 2011 our turnover was approximately US$ 160 Million with growth at around 18% -20% Have credit limits of the channel been squeezed in the recent past? Is that a specific challenge for the market?

Yes credit limits have been relooked and our focus continues to work with in our credit guidelines to help our resellers / partners to carry sensible and quality business List the number of offices and their locations in GCC Apart from our operations in Dubai, we also have our sales office in Bahrain. We are planning to open new offices in the GCC and increase our workforce from the current 92.

Distribution Outlook 2012

Distribution Outlook 2012

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In Focus | Jurassic Technologies

Success by Design Jurassic Technologies LLC has built its operations on the back of some very strong global brands mixed with local expertise. Founder and Chairman Ralph Mendonca and M Hariharasankar, Group CEO, share their vision for a company clearly poised for even greater heights of success.

Ralph Mendonca Founder & Chairman, Jurassic

Briefly discuss your marketing strategy We are a telecommunication accessories company established in 1993 in the UAE but with an initial focus on Africa. After a while, Jurassic identified certain gaps right here in the UAE that we sought to fill. Since then, Jurassic has grown progressively through these years mainly based on the strength our partnership with Transcend, which remains the company’s strongest vendor. We remain one of the oldest and largest distributors of Transcend in the Middle East.

Jurassic has grown both horizontally as well as vertically by making key acquisitions.

Discuss how this has benefitted the company In 2001 Jurassic established its Educational arm through taking over the franchises of Aptech, Arena and English Express to cater to the IT training needs of students, working professionals and the corporates in UAE. In 2008 Jurassic acquired the distribution rights for Kensington Products, one of the largest IT security and [ 18 ]

accessories manufacturers in the world. In 2010, we acquired the distribution rights of IRIS Products, a leader in portable scanners and document solutions and also acquired the distribution rights of the Energizer for the region for portable charging solutions. We also have the distribution rights in the Middle East for NITRO PDF and Disney/Weenicons USBs. You have a diverse operation covering several domains.

Briefly discuss your corporate strategy We serve our customers through three divisions – Distribution, Corporate and Education Divisions.

The Distribution division manages two other divisions i.e. VAR and retail division. VAR division takes care of serving the wide range of Value Added Resellers (VARs) and independent retailers across the region. The retail division takes care of the hypermarkets and organised retail customers.

The corporate division provides infrastructure, solutions and service support to the big corporates across the region. We are the authorized partner for IBM hardware and software, Dell, HP, Fujitsu, Microsoft, Cisco, EMC2, Iomega and Cyberoam.

The education division provides knowledge, Management and skilled training to the students, working professionals, home makers and corporate clients. We are the brand owners of Jimat and authorized franchisee of Aptech, Arena and English Express You still maintain operations in Africa. Please discuss We have a division based in Dubai exclusively handling our African operations. We maintain a logistics partner in Africa to provide incountry billing and local logistics in East Africa Describe your distribution and logistics infrastructure We have our central logistics at Al Quoz, Dubai and serve our customers through dedicated vans moving across UAE. We are expanding our offices to Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait What challenges affect you as a distributor?

Competition is cut throat here in the UAE. However, we take competition positively and work on a progressive model to establish our space in the market. Our success lies on our ability to re-inventing ourselves as these challenges crop up. We live by the maxim that we should remain a respectable partner to all our stakeholders.

Distribution Outlook 2012

Distribution Outlook 2012

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In Focus | Gerabsys

Gerabsys bolsters local foothold

Fancy Joseph General Manager, Gerabsys

Gerabsys remains focused on its key strengths, a strategy that has served its well since launch some 26 years ago. Fancy Joseph, General Manager explains how this strategy continues to bear fruit for the company.

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Discuss your distribution focus Gerabsys has been operating in Dubai since 1986 as importer, stockiest and distributor of network infrastructure products and their accessories ranging from copper and fibre cabling products, switches, racks, cable management products, KVM switches, consoles, FTTH solutions etc. for the entire GCC. Additionally we also offer products and solutions such as UPS, batteries, power supplies, solar powered off-the-grid shelters for telecom and defence applications. Our services include IT solutions for warehouse management and logistics management systems backed by state of the art RFID data gathering technologies.

Elaborate on your brand portfolio and how it ties to your VAR strategy We are partners with some top names in networking and system integration. These include TE Connectivity (Earlier Tyco Electronics, ADC-Krone, AMP Netconnect), Cooper B Line, Prysmian, Draka, DataCom, Signamax, Rextron, ETON, BAE, SET among others.

Our main target markets remains infrastructure EPC, datacenters, corporate and systems integrators.

Discuss your growth strategy and the markets you currently operate in Today Gerabsys reaches out to its clients through our local corporate branch offices located in all GCC countries. We have ambitious plans to expand our activities in KSA We are also exploring the Eastern African market for existing product lines as well as for new products that include IT, Wireless LAN distribution systems among others .Our active channels are large system integrators, network and telecom solution providers.

You added your own brand some time back. Please elaborate on progress on this front.

Yes, we do have our own brand, DataCom. Presently, DataCom covers only Passive Network solutions and products. We have plans to add CCTV, IPTV, VoIP and access controllers to this range and have them distributed through VAR and resellers across our target markets.

Discuss your value add initiatives for your customer segments.

Our mission remains delivering assured quality, highly dependable after sales services, marketing, design and pricing support in effectively closing project deals.

Distribution Outlook 2012

Distribution Outlook 2012

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In Focus | Mitsumi

Jagat Shah Chairman & CEO, Mitsumi

For 16 years, Mitsumi has placed its confidence and focus on Africa. Now, as the continent gets ready for its own economic takeoff, Mitsumi will count on its vast experience and infrastructure to ride the inevitable ICT boom.

Mitsumi’s Grand African Ambitions Briefly describe your African growth strategy Mitsumi is one Africa’s largest IT distributors and we are an authorized distributor for leading global IT hardware and software brands such as HP, Dell, Acer, Toshiba, Samsung, Tripplite, BenQ and Microsoft. Value distribution is a very significant contributor to the bottom line, and the company is adding three major value brands to our portfolio. A major focus for Mitsumi is empowering our partners. We undertake different marketing campaigns and programs that we to educate our partners through partnership with vendors.

Discuss growth prospects in your home market of East Africa East Africa is showing continued good economic performance

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FDI flows have increased strongly in the past decade, investor perceptions of East Africa are ever improving and the outlook is positive with capital inflows forecast to reach record levels. Africa is currently enjoying the highest ROI in the world and is making strong progress towards political reform, macro-economic stability and social development. Although the risks in investing in Africa may appear high, the risks can be managed, and the rewards can be great. That is why we are investing heavily in growing our Africa footprint over this year by unleashing Mitsumi 2.0 over 2013.

Mitsumi is known for its proactive approach to the markets it operates in. Describe partnerships you have within the wider social-eco-

Distribution Outlook 2012

Distribution Outlook 2012

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In Focus | MES Computers

MES on Steady Ground Omar Lutfi General Manager, MES Computer

What are the brands and solutions offered by MES? MES aims at providing its clients with a wide range of products that suit all their needs, either business or consumer requirements. We deal in global brands including Epson, LG IT, TP Link and Bit Defender. We also stock many LG IT products and solutions such as LCD/ LED monitors and portable DVD writers. At the same time, MES offers TP Link products including wireless routers, switches and other SOHO and home solution.

Bit Defender security solutions provide consumers with a wide range of security solutions, covering Anti-virus, Internet security and Total security suites.

Discuss the performance of these brands in the market?

Epson is one of our key partners, we offer their solutions, dedicated to special segments, such as edu[ 24 ]

MES Computers, a leading IT distributor in the UAE has taken deliberate steps to enhance its position in the industry. Omar Lutfi, MES General Manager, in an exclusive interview with VAR, sheds light on the company’s current situation and future plans.

cation. Additionally, MES provides Epson scanners, ink jet and laser jets printers and more.

TP Link products are also showing steady growth after just a short time in the market.

Do you target any other sectors apart from education?

MES is planning to increase its geographic reach to cover more clients. This means that we need to diversify the verticals we are dealing with. In the upcoming 2012 GITEX, MES will showcase its Banking solutions in a live demo, among other promotions on-site Discuss your sales strategy We deal with Epson and TP Link products in the whole region, except Egypt and KSA. As for LG IT and Bit Defender solutions, MES distributes their products all over the region. We have offices in Syria, Iraq and two in the UAE, in Dubai and Jebel Ali. Currently, we do not exist

physically in Africa but we work through our partners.

What are the benefits MES offers to its channel partners?

The channel lies in the centre of our strategy, MES is keen to provide the channel partners with genuine solutions and services, where they can generate decent profits . We also assist them with lead generation, where we connect them with our corporate clients so they can undertake orders.

Discuss future goals Based on our estimates, we are expecting an annual growth of about 25%this year. Although we are well known as a distributor in the local market, we expanded into regional distributorship in 2010. Thus we need more time to enhance our position in the region. I am confident that our experience will allow us to grow further.

Distribution Outlook 2012

Accolades | Buraida

Buraida Miles Ahead of Competition Nazeer C. P. Managing Dirctor, Buraida Computers

Buraida Computers has been for the second year running been presented with the Imation Star Performer award for the Middle East for the year 2011.

The award was given during the annual Imation Reseller Event in recognition for leading the competition in sales, volumes and support. Buraida was selected from among 20 other finalists during the gala night in Dubai.

Imation Star Awards are an annual showcase meant to recognize and honour the company’s reseller partners in UAE for their consistent support to Imation and strengthen the bond further with the reseller channel according to Prasad Ramachandran, Imation Channel Manager MEEA. Resellers are awarded for four Imation different product groups including Optical Media, Flash, HDD and Accessories. Each product catDistribution Outlook 2012

Being recognised by a vendor as the best distributor is an impressive feat. Doing so two years running is simply brilliant. And yet that is exactly what Nazeer C.P, Managing Director at Buraida Computers has done.

egory has four different segments; Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze.

Resellers are thus awarded with a partner certification based on the categories they have qualified in the different product groups.

The most outstanding reseller is awarded with the Star Performer Award.

Apart from Imation, Buraida is also an HP Preferred Partner, a Lexman Preferred Partner, an Epson Premium Partner and recently signed with Dell as a Premium Partner.

“Consumables are our strongest business lines. We carry genuine HP, Brother and Canon cartridges and toners,” said Nazeer.

Buraida won in the Flash category as a Platinum Partner and Optical Media category as Gold Partner in addition to walking away with the top prize. Buraida has been an Imation platinum partner for six years.

Nazeer attributed Buraida’s ascendancy in the competitive IT market to its non-compromising stand on counterfeit products.

“We get repeat orders from our customers because we deal only with genuine products. Name brands remain the core focus of our business,” said Nazeer.

“The awards have provided us with the impetus to maintain similar performance in the future and also encouraged us to do even more despite prevailing challenges in the market,” said Nazeer C.P. Managing Director at Buraida Computers.

Buraida sells both through the dealer network as well as directly to corporate end users. . To effectively serve its clientele, Buraida maintains two warehouses in the Bur Dubai area in addition to its main showroom. [ 25 ]

nomic national environment Mitsumi has realized the business sense of having a well-trained population. Economic growth in East Africa will only be achieved only when there is a dependable pool of highly qualified and knowledgeable human capital.

We are aggressively involved in partnering with the government and institutions working to grow literacy levels in Africa. One such initiative was when we partnered with the ICT Board in Kenya to supply students with heavily subsidized notebooks in the year 2010. We will endeavor to boost literacy levels in Africa by partnering with schools and educational institutions as the concept of technology enabled education is gaining ground globally.

Describe your expansion process over the last few years in Africa Mitsumi has been experiencing impressive growth of 50% YoY in line with its ambition to be the number one IT distributor in Africa. To this end, the company has opened sales offices, service centers and stock points in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia. Mitsumi has more than 150 employees and subsidiaries and the 12 continental locations ensure speedy, effective and professional service to resellers throughout Africa. Mitsumi has divided its operations into four [ 26 ]

regions of East Africa which includes Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and DRC. West Africa operations have grown from Nigeria in 2009 to Ghana in 2010 and Ivory Coast in 2011. Mitsumi intends to grow into Liberia and Cameroon this year.

Southern Africa operations constitute Zambia and Mozambique with the intention of beginning operations in Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Mauritius and Zimbabwe in 2013. North Africa operations comprise Algeria and Tunisia. The main growth engine for the next five years is Southern and North Africa. The main overseas distribution office is strategically located in Dubai (U.A.E), which ensures faster and more efficient deliveries to Africa. We have invested heavily in East Africa and have a dedicated team of highly skilled sales, technical, financial and marketing professionals who live the Mitsumi philosophy of going the extra mile for our dealers/reseller community in East Africa.

Which technologies and innovations will shape the distribution and the larger IT market in coming years?

Customers’ top technology priority is mobility currently. Slowly but surely, tablets are making their way into businesses, giving themselves a new role in modern day

business. Easy to use for checking inventory, taking pictures of products, or being able to continue work away from the desk, these machines have started to pave a way into the future. It’s like having a new personal assistant that can take care of every task that you give it. As professional tablet use increases, the apps will evolve to meet growing and anticipated needs, and companies will start to rely on these machines more and more for the simple reasons of cost effectiveness and mobility.

Cloud computing is expected to become more viable, but connectivity costs will still stand in the way of adoption.

Describe your major strengths as a distributor and how they come in play in your growth strategy Mitsumi has an advantage in Africa since the company was the first to establish a chain of in-country presence in these markets ranging from facilities like warehousing, stocking points and support service centers in 1996. Our regional geographical coverage, focus on relationship model and extensive customer base made the group the largest and fastest growing distributor in Africa. It distributes a wide range of products covering computers, data centre, storage, security, networking, software and hardware.

Distribution Outlook 2012

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Distribution OutlookAT 2012 EXPERIENCE GITEX 2012

HALL 4 - STAND D4-1