ComputerLand takes Acer in Tasmania

Reseller and managed services provider ComputerLand Tasmania has added Acer in a bid to diversify its hardware vendor base.
                                                                                                          
Colin Pedersen, director at ComputerLand Tasmania, said the reseller had formerly relied on HP, which has a 70 percent install base with ComputerLand's government customers. Since the merger with Compaq, the situation with HP had changed, he said.

'We have been looking for other partners. We partnered with Ipex and Acer approached us so we also decided to partner with Acer,' Pedersen said.

Acer had made definite moves to ramp up its presence in Tasmania, including opening service centres and employing staff, and had an excellent delivery track record, he said.

'If they're going to do that, we'll support them,' he said. 'They're serious about increasing their market share. That's in line with our strategy.'

Another major advantage was Acer's Australian-based call centre. ComputerLand customers had been very unhappy with vendor support that was outsourced overseas to countries such as India, he said.

'[Acer] seems to be a better channel partner than anybody at the moment. They are offering very good rebates, excellent support at a high level. You can talk to [Acer head] Charles Chung and get awareness of any big deal, and for me that's a couple of hundred seats,' Pedersen said.

Acer also had managed to price competitively while retaining a chance for resellers to make good margins, he added.

'They're not paying me for this,' Pedersen quipped.

ComputerLand focuses on SMBs and government, with a view to ramping up its managed services offering in both sectors. SMBs were a particularly good opportunity since many of them could not afford to manage their IT in-house, he pointed out.

As a result, many tended to be reactive -- only calling for assistance when something went wrong, rather than planning IT management in advance, he said.

'We have got a bunch of clients that might have 20, 30, 40 or 50 seats. At the moment we're doing ad hoc services and we're moving those clients to a managed service model,' Pedersen said.

Greg Mikaelian, national channel sales manager at Acer, said ComputerLand would help push the vendor's desktops, notebooks, handhelds, servers and storage into commercial and SMB markets and build presence in Tasmania.

ComputerLand stood out for its customer focus and ability to add value, he said.

'Conversely, Acer's leading position in the education and government segments will open up significant opportunities for ComputerLand,' Mikaelian said.
 
ComputerLand Tasmania is a private company with about 33 staff and offices in Tasmania's Hobart, Sandy Bay, Launceston and Burnie.

The company retained the ComputerLand name when a former franchiser went out of business several years ago, Pedersen said.