The founder of Alcatel Lucent distributor Nuvola has claimed that broadline distributors no longer offer resellers “any value”.
In a conversation with Channel Pro, Nuvola boss Michael Lloyd dismissed the likes of Arrow ECS, Ingram Micro and Exertis Micro-P, claiming: “They’re so large now; it’s about how many boxes can they ship, and the reseller gets no value.”
Lloyd says most resellers are viewed as little more than account numbers to the big disties, remarking: “They say ‘we have 12,000 customers’, but how much are they engaging with them?”
Nuvola was spun off from Unified Communications (UC) services company Nuage in 2013 after Alcatel Lucent approached the firm to become its second distributor in the UK alongside Arrow. According to Lloyd, the vendor felt it wasn’t receiving the attention it needed from the broadliner, which the exec describes as having a “call centre mentality”.
Nuage already offered white label services around the vendor’s technology – as well as that of ShoreTel, Avaya, Microsoft Lync and Aruba Networks – and subsequently launched its distie arm in September 2013.
“They needed someone that understands services and can distribute the product,” explains Lloyd, who says the firm aims to build its portfolio gradually, recently adding phone system manufacturer Gigaset to its vendor line-up.
“We’re taking it back to how it used to be with distribution,” claims Lloyd, who says Maidenhead-based Nuvola offers resellers a “complete UC solution”, wrapping service and support around Alcatel Lucent’s data, voice and wireless products.
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