Nortel signs Anixter, mulls cull

Networking gear vendor Nortel has appointed Anixter Australia as a distributor for its nPower channel and is mulling a partner cull following its first distribution review in more than two years.

The announcement was made at Nortel's CXO Forum in Perth this week.

Nick Avakian, general manager enterprise networks at Nortel Australia New Zealand, said the vendor wanted a distributor that targeted specific market segments.

Anixter was Nortel's fourth distributor in Australia, after Express Data, Tech Pacific and LAN Systems.

"One of the things we're looking at these days is whether to keep going with four," Avakian said. "We're in dialogue with some of the partners that I've mentioned, but no final decision has been made."

Anixter's appeal was partly its customer base in the contract cabling market, and partly its experience as a longstanding Nortel partner in other countries, Avakian said.

The review was the first distribution partner review Nortel Australia had undertaken in the two years he had been with the vendor, Avakian added.

"It's not something we do constantly. But so much has changed," he added. "We don't want to take business away from the other [distributors]. It's more about growing the pie."

Wayne Bogart, managing director at Anixter Australia, said Anixter and Nortel had a strong partner relationship in South America and Europe.

 “We intend to work closely with Nortel to add value to its enterprise business in Australia by improving supply chain performance and reducing supply chain costs," he said.

Bogart said Anixter would develop end-user programs to promote Nortel IP telephony, broadband and wireless products to resellers.

Nortel's nPower channel partner program covered the Asia-Pacific region and aimed to promote Nortel voice, data and converged offerings.

Anixter is a subsidiary of New York Stock Exchange-listed Anixter International, a supply chain services provider with presence in 45 countries.