Digiland grabs 3Com agency

The distributor - which joins LAN Systems and Ingram Micro on 3Com's distribution books - has access to the majority of 3Com's mid-range and low-end switching and wireless products, said Mike Clarke, MD at 3Com.

As a sub-distributor, Digiland are required to purchase directly from Ingram and LAN Systems. Clarke said Digiland would reach SME resellers that weren't being serviced by Ingram and LAN Systems. "We want to get access to a larger number of resellers and Digiland will help us get there," he said.

These types of resellers aren't primarily networking-focused companies, which are already serviced by LAN Systems and Ingram, he claimed. 3Com also is pushing its "Bronze" certified resellers - under the Focus program launched earlier this year - to utilise its trade up program.

The program provides discounts to resellers that are replacing customer's old equipment with new gear. Under the program, resellers use a web-based tool in order to get 3Com pricing which links directly through to their distributor. "A lot of resellers aren't using the trade-up tool," Clarke said.

To date, 3Com has signed 200 resellers under the Focus program, of which the majority are Bronze partners. There are currently 15 Gold and 35 Silver partners on board, he said. 3Com operates completely through a two-tier channel.

3Com has also employed Nick Jolliffe to run its operation in Wellington, New Zealand. Previously, distributors Tech Pacific and Ingram Micro alone handled sales in NZ. Meanwhile, the highest proportion of 3Com's revenues in Australia, are still generated from traditional switching equipment, Clarke said.

However, its wireless and VoIP offerings are showing promise. "We are really starting to see the [highest] volume of wireless being sold into the home market," he said.

Wireless sales into the education market are also strong as customer fears over security issues with wireless technologies start to alleviate. He claimed that wireless technology is relatively inexpensive and from a sales revenue perspective it's less relevant than it is as a technology. Its NBX VoIP system is also installed at around 400 sites across Australia, he said.