distribution outlook 2012

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Overview

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special supplement byP.o. Box: 121075, Montana Building 404, Zabeel Road, near GPo, Karama, Dubai-UAe, tel: 04-3705022 Fax: 04-3706639

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

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

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

Golden Systems Moves to Cover its Bases - 12Ehsan Hashemi, COO, on how the regional market ischanging and Golden Systems place within the distribution business

Variety Remains Key for ScreenCheck - 14ScreenCheck has introduced state of the art identificationtechnologies Faisal Mohamed explains.

On Positive Path - 16Arun at Trigon discusses how the company continuesto endure despite a challenging environment.

Success by Design - 18Founder and Chairman Ralph Mendonca share their vision fora company clearly poised for even greater heights of success.

Gerabsys bolsters local foothold - 20Fancy Joseph, General Manager explains how this strategycontinues to bear fruit for the company.

Mitsumis Grand African Ambitions - 22Jagat Shah Chairman & CEO, Mitsumi will count on its vast experienceand infrastructure to ride the inevitable ICT boom

MES on Steady Ground - 24Omar Lutfi, MES General Manager, in an exclusive interview with VAR, sheds light on the com-panys current situation and future plans.

Accolades | Buraida Miles Ahead of Competion - 22Being 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.

Happy Days are here Again - 5Vivek sharma VAR MeA Magazine

Distribution Outlook 2012[ 4 ]

Distribution Outlook 2012 [ 5 ]

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 cre-ate 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 tough-est 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

Overview | Distribution

Distribution has always been the most challenging task in the It supply chain. As the block is per-fectly centered between vendors and resellers, in harmony distribu-tors must meet the demands of both with eye on achieving their business objectives. It is definitely not the role which most compa-nies 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 dis-tributors with a minimum 8-week locking period. Planning requires serious thought for distributors to confirm orders with correspond-ing 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 part-

their vendors. Distributors are also working on extended services rather than just pushing products. now they are involved in consul-tancy solutions and services to end corporate customers while having teams focused exclusively on retail management.

Africa looks to be the Big Focus as its both a promising market and historically attached to trade routes in Dubai. Lots of distribu-tion 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 hu-man mind.

Well its safe to say for distributors Happy Days are here Again

Happy Days are Here Again

Vivek SharmaVAR MEA Magazine


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 acquir-ing 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-

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 spe-cifically for the coming year.

Are there any new vendor tie-ups announced of late in areas like cloud computing, virtuali-sation, storage/networking etc? We are happy to announce the partnership with emerson network power and Motorola Wireless; two vendors that do not

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.

Mindware Makes allthe Right Moves

Mario GayGeneral Manager, Mindware

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 distribu-tion 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 marketsWe 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 ap-proach.

In Focus | Mindware


Looking back since last year, discuss your achievements from where you stand nowRedington 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 successstrategic 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 yearBusiness 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 todays 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.

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.

Success is SecondNature at Redington

Aloysius FernandesPresident, IT Volume MEA, Redington

In Focus | Redington


Do you see the distribution busi-ness 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; neverthe-less, 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 evo-lution 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 im-mense and are a function of how quickly the channel recognizes the growing needs of their cus-tomer base. the channel needs to move away from positioning their product portfolio to a strategy of

Optimus comprehensive approach to marketing and distribu-tion 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 companys success.

customizing their offering to the needs of their customers.

the Channel will recognize the value of its distributor by measur-ing their effectiveness, not only on numbers, but on basis of: Extentofinvestmentinvendortechnologies SalesofVendoradvancedtechnology portfolio Endcustomersatisfactionwithpartner on vendor product sales Numberoftransactions EndPartnerprofitability

What in your perspective is ac-tual 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 part-ner capacity building through channel credit facilities, training sessions and channel enablement

on new technologies and prod-ucts 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 ex-ecute 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 en-able self-serve mode of service in a more efficient manner.

our channel business is driven

Forward ThinkingKeeps Optimus Ahead

In Focus | Optimus

Meera KaulManaging Director, Optimus


by more specialized consultative solution selling partners, greater focus on training and enabling better end customer implemen-tations 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 ac-cumulated 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

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 Avayas Unified Communications and Contact Centre solutions and related ser-vices; Data networking, wireless, security & storage solutions from netgear; Molexs interconnect products from electronic and fiber optic interconnects to switches and application tooling; modular UPs systems from opti-UPs, in-novative headset solutions from Jabra; authentication solutions from swivel; simple-to-use, in-novative backup & data recovery solutions from Quest software; endpoint security and virtual-ization security products from Bitdefender; and servers and storage solutions from Acer to name some.

Which are the technologies that you would like to strengthen your portfolio? We are a solutions provider and hence all the products in our port-folio are important for us. We will be announcing some important aspects of our growth portfolio by the next quarter. Bringing a value proposition to our channel entails having an entire solution portfolio that may be designed to meet the require-ments of the end customer and

that of the reseller focus indus-tries. optimus has consolidated its portfolio to meet such business demands and is able to cater to verticals across varied domains.

Discuss new markets and territo-ries that you are focusing on?We have built a very strong chan-nel 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 Afghani-stan.

How has the growth been on a year on year basis? optimus has grown significantly since the companys inception in 2008. the company has expanded its portfolio to include security and networking products in ad-dition 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.

2012 has been a great year for optimus. We have achieved sig-nificant growth in revenues over the previous year and this was only possible because we expand-ed our business into new markets, added new vendor partners, increased our partner enablement and training programs and en-sured proper inventory planning.

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


In Focus | Golden System

List the current brands that you are associated with for distribu-tionWe 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 cover-ing software, storage, networking and security.

Describe your distribution and infrastructure facilitiesWe 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-

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

Discuss some of the realities fac-ing distributors in the regionthe main challenge is that the component market is shrinking. As a solution, we have been focus-ing on expanding our business in other segments such as peripher-als and mobility products. Credit limits have also been revised to become more practical and ap-propriate. With this change, there are lesser chances of delinquen-cies.

Describe your partner incentive/reward programsWe have several channel initia-tives 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 market-ing initiatives. this year, we have increased our engagement with our partners, focused on channel training and increased our value added offerings.

Ehsan Hashemi, COO of Golden Systems Middle East, on how the regional market is changing and Golden Systems place within the distribution busi-ness.

Golden Systems Moves to Cover its Bases

Ehsan HashmiCOO, Middle East, Golden System


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 EastnFC is today the emerging tech-nology in the card industry. More and more smart phones are today equipped with nFC technol-ogy and credit cards are already started to move in. Long range RF ID using the UHF technology is becoming popular in asset track-ing, 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 ac-cess 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 do-main from people identification to counterfeit currency identifica-tion. our products use different technologies for identification like smart cards, RF ID, finger-print, facial recognition, infra-red, visual imaging technology etc. We distribute the worlds leading brands in this domain like Zebra, Datacard, evolis, Dors, Impinj, suprema etc.

You have expanded your resale channel extensively since Scre-enCheck came along. Discuss your growth strategy as well as your channel partnerships in the regionWe currently cover 25 countries in the MeA region. today our strength is our active reseller net-work spread in these 25 countries. our business model is to strongly focus on the identification indus-try 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.

Variety Remains Key for ScreenCheck

In Focus | ScreenCheck

Faisal MohammedGeneral Manager, ScreenCheck

Security remains a con-stant worry for many organizations and businesses. To ease their minds, ScreenCheck has introduced to the mar-ket some state of the art identification technolo-gies 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 op-erations 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 rela-tionship, we got a lot of request

ScreenCheck Middle East FZ. LLC, Oce 1712, Grosvenor Business Tower, Tecom, Dubai, UAE.

Tel: +971 4 3910707, Fax: +971 4 3245107Email: [email protected]| www.screencheckme.com.

ScreenCheck Middle East provides a wide basket of products from worlds leading brands in Auto ID industry ranging from Identication, 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 oer dedicated help desk support.

ID CARD PRINTER CONSUMABLES AND ACCESSORIES

ID CARD PRINTERS BIOMETRIC READERS POINT OF SALE BARCODE PRODUCTS CURRENCY MACHINES

CONFUSED?


While we have moved into the 4th quarter of the current year, has the outlook improved for the regions 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 tra-ditional 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.

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 es-pecially, 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 re-looked 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 of-fice in Bahrain. We are planning to open new offices in the GCC and increase our workforce from the current 92.

Arun at Trigon discusses how the company continues to endure despite a challenging environ-ment.

Trigon onPositive Path

In Focus | Trigon

Arun ChawlaCEO, Trigon


Briefly discuss your marketing strategyWe are a telecommunication ac-cessories company established in 1993 in the UAe but with an initial focus on Africa. After a while, Ju-rassic 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 companys 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 companyIn 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 stu-dents, working professionals and the corporates in UAe. In 2008 Jurassic acquired the distribution rights for Kensington Products, one of the largest It security and

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 strategyWe serve our customers through three divisions Distribution, Cor-porate 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 pro-vides 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.

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 com-pany clearly poised for even greater heights of success.

Success by Design

In Focus | Jurassic Technologies

Ralph MendoncaFounder & Chairman, Jurassic

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 discussWe have a division based in Dubai exclusively handling our African operations. We maintain a logis-tics partner in Africa to provide in-country 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 com-petition 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.


Discuss your distribution focusGerabsys 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. Addition-ally 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 port-folio and how it ties to your VAR strategyWe are partners with some top names in networking and system integration. these include te Con-nectivity (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 integra-tors.

Discuss your growth strategy and the markets you currently operate intoday Gerabsys reaches out to its clients through our local corpo-rate 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 solu-tions 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 as-sured quality, highly dependable after sales services, marketing, design and pricing support in ef-fectively closing project deals.

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

Gerabsys bolsterslocal foothold

In Focus | Gerabsys

Fancy JosephGeneral Manager, Gerabsys


Briefly describe your African growth strategyMitsumi is one Africas largest It distributors and we are an autho-rized 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 differ-ent 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

For 16 years, Mitsumi has placed its confi-dence and focus on Africa. Now, as the con-tinent gets ready for its own economic take-off, Mitsumi will count on its vast experience and infrastructure to ride the inevitable ICT boom.

Mitsumis Grand African Ambitions

In Focus | Mitsumi

Jagat ShahChairman & CEO, Mitsumi

FDI flows have increased strongly in the past decade, investor perceptions of east Africa are ever improving and the outlook is posi-tive 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 foot-print over this year by unleashing Mitsumi 2.0 over 2013. Mitsumi is known for its proactive approach to the markets it oper-ates in. Describe partnerships you have within the wider social-eco-


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 strategyWe 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 of-fers 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 con-nect them with our corporate clients so they can undertake orders.

Discuss future goalsBased 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.

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

MES on Steady Ground

In Focus | MES Computers

What are the brands and solu-tions offered by MES?Mes aims at providing its clients with a wide range of products that suit all their needs, either business or consumer require-ments. We deal in global brands including epson, LG It, tP Link and Bit Defender. We also stock many LG It products and solu-tions such as LCD/ LeD monitors and portable DVD writers. At the same time, Mes offers tP Link products including wireless rout-ers, switches and other soHo and home solution.

Bit Defender security solutions provide consumers with a wide range of security solutions, cover-ing 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-

Omar LutfiGeneral Manager, MES Computer


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.

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.

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.

Apart from Imation, Buraida is also an HP Preferred Partner, a Lexman Preferred Partner, an epson Pre-mium 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.

nazeer attributed Buraidas 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.

Buraida sells both through the dealer network as well as directly to corporate end users. . to effec-tively serve its clientele, Buraida maintains two warehouses in the Bur Dubai area in addition to its main showroom.

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

Buraida Miles Ahead of Competition

Accolades | Buraida

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 dur-ing the gala night in Dubai.

Imation star Awards are an annual showcase meant to recognize and honour the companys 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 dif-ferent product groups including optical Media, Flash, HDD and Accessories. each product cat-

Nazeer C. P. Managing Dirctor, Buraida Computers


nomic national environmentMitsumi 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 depend-able 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 partner-ing 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 AfricaMitsumi 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

regions of east Africa which in-cludes 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 con-stitute 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 distribu-tion office is strategically located in Dubai (U.A.e), which ensures faster and more efficient deliver-ies to Africa. We have invested heavily in east Africa and have a dedicated team of highly skilled sales, technical, financial and mar-keting professionals who live the Mitsumi philosophy of going the extra mile for our dealers/reseller community in east Africa.

Which technologies and innova-tions will shape the distribution and the larger IT market in com-ing years?Customers top technology prior-ity is mobility currently. slowly but surely, tablets are making their way into businesses, giving them-selves a new role in modern day

business. easy to use for checking inventory, taking pictures of prod-ucts, or being able to continue work away from the desk, these machines have started to pave a way into the future. Its 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 con-nectivity 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 strategyMitsumi 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, net-working, software and hardware.

Distribution Outlook 2012 [ 27 ]Distributed in the Middle East by Al Hosani Computer LLC1703 BelResheed Tower, Buhaira Corniche, Sharjah, UAETel: +971 6 575 4443 Fax: +971 6 575 444 9Email: [email protected] www.alhosanime.com


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distribution outlook 2012

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