Anyone responsible for IT purchasing for their SME?
Discussion
I very rarely deal direct, resellers always have the ability to push a bit harder and they save me a ton of time doing all the background negotiating stuff.
Dell is the only company I've dealt with direct until they pissed me off so now they are under instructions to deal with my reseller direct and not with me.
I keep it down to very few resellers though, one primary company, one secondary company, one specialist company for security stuff. Beyond that I have an Amazon business account for the small stuff.
Dell is the only company I've dealt with direct until they pissed me off so now they are under instructions to deal with my reseller direct and not with me.
I keep it down to very few resellers though, one primary company, one secondary company, one specialist company for security stuff. Beyond that I have an Amazon business account for the small stuff.
It really depends on Volume and what kit and warranty you want.
Dell are currently uninterested in discounting things like a 3060 with a decent i5, 8GB of factory RAM and 3 years 4h on site 'cos they've currently got that market just right.
It's similar with servers. One off low end silver or bronze intel with base RAID controllers you can get some movement on but anything decent they're pricing accordingly.
Desktops, If you want 20+ units and are prepared to put your own RAM into it Ballicom or ebuyer are your best bet at the moment but it's very much take what they've got cheap, and they've got it cheap for a reason.
Dell are currently uninterested in discounting things like a 3060 with a decent i5, 8GB of factory RAM and 3 years 4h on site 'cos they've currently got that market just right.
It's similar with servers. One off low end silver or bronze intel with base RAID controllers you can get some movement on but anything decent they're pricing accordingly.
Desktops, If you want 20+ units and are prepared to put your own RAM into it Ballicom or ebuyer are your best bet at the moment but it's very much take what they've got cheap, and they've got it cheap for a reason.
I used to use one good reseller for pcs and servers, and then online for all the small stuff.
Reason being that you want a good reseller relationship more than you want rock bottom prices, as their support and simplicity of purchasing is worth far more than any small financial savings to be made from shopping around.
I also used to buy direct from Dell but gave up on them after one particularly bad experience when chasing an overdue server delivery of three months.
Reason being that you want a good reseller relationship more than you want rock bottom prices, as their support and simplicity of purchasing is worth far more than any small financial savings to be made from shopping around.
I also used to buy direct from Dell but gave up on them after one particularly bad experience when chasing an overdue server delivery of three months.
I'm on the other side - In that we are a reseller (and I have previously worked for both vendors & resellers).
Margins are so tight on 'tin' that discounts for low volumes are usually only available when they coincide with a bigger push from the vendor. Many volume resellers are selling with a margin of around 5% (and go lower if the deal is of strategic importance). At that, they have to shift a LOT of volume, and cannot justify much on customer service.
I remember a time when if a vendor had not sold sufficient volume in the US to meet their factory capacity, they would offer some great deals elsewhere in the world - just to maintain volume. I was in sales for a UK PC manufacturer at the time, and knew my Dell counterpart. If they were on a push to shift volume, it was not worth me even trying to compete. Many people saw these deals because the vendors had a big direct sales force. However, that was a hard slog on their sales teams and you needed to engage a lot of customers to make it work. Now this variation is more frequently picked up by the volume resellers. The vendors will offer/push the kit to them to help flatten demand, use up older components etc. Therefore the deals are now more frequently accessible through the volume resellers, who also have their own needs to maintain set volumes. However, as they themselves are all about volume, the quality of service you get from them, often depends on your individual account manager.
We are a smaller reseller (our main business is services, but many of our customers want us to do everything for them) - and often find we cannot compete with the pricing from the volume players. So we can only compete on service. We advise our customers, provide our experience of the vendors / warranties, new releases, and we are there to help when things go wrong. An example we had recently when Dell (despite having the correct serial number) kept shipping the wrong replacement power lead to a laptop they had sold to a customer though us. Dell had given the client the incorrect part number, the customer was at a loss trying to get Dell support to understand, so we stepped in. In truth, the time taken cost us way more than we ever made on the laptop - but more importantly, the customer loves us, and they will continue to buy through us every time, despite knowing they are paying a little more. For me, it helps build trust and maintain our relationship, and keeps the competition out.
Margins are so tight on 'tin' that discounts for low volumes are usually only available when they coincide with a bigger push from the vendor. Many volume resellers are selling with a margin of around 5% (and go lower if the deal is of strategic importance). At that, they have to shift a LOT of volume, and cannot justify much on customer service.
I remember a time when if a vendor had not sold sufficient volume in the US to meet their factory capacity, they would offer some great deals elsewhere in the world - just to maintain volume. I was in sales for a UK PC manufacturer at the time, and knew my Dell counterpart. If they were on a push to shift volume, it was not worth me even trying to compete. Many people saw these deals because the vendors had a big direct sales force. However, that was a hard slog on their sales teams and you needed to engage a lot of customers to make it work. Now this variation is more frequently picked up by the volume resellers. The vendors will offer/push the kit to them to help flatten demand, use up older components etc. Therefore the deals are now more frequently accessible through the volume resellers, who also have their own needs to maintain set volumes. However, as they themselves are all about volume, the quality of service you get from them, often depends on your individual account manager.
We are a smaller reseller (our main business is services, but many of our customers want us to do everything for them) - and often find we cannot compete with the pricing from the volume players. So we can only compete on service. We advise our customers, provide our experience of the vendors / warranties, new releases, and we are there to help when things go wrong. An example we had recently when Dell (despite having the correct serial number) kept shipping the wrong replacement power lead to a laptop they had sold to a customer though us. Dell had given the client the incorrect part number, the customer was at a loss trying to get Dell support to understand, so we stepped in. In truth, the time taken cost us way more than we ever made on the laptop - but more importantly, the customer loves us, and they will continue to buy through us every time, despite knowing they are paying a little more. For me, it helps build trust and maintain our relationship, and keeps the competition out.
Bibbs said:
shopper150 said:
hyphen said:
Bibbs said:
Now I responsible for purchasing, and apart from a Dell deals flyer every quarter, I get zip.
No Xmas present from the reseller?If anyone on PH owns a reseller or can recommend one, feel free to recommend.
Edited by shopper150 on Wednesday 8th January 07:36
Depends how much you are spending.
I get 30%+ off Dell by going direct but you need a £15k+vat spend at least and speak to Indian based account manager. Re-sellers have a different market - people who don't really know what discounts are available or are buying for a corporate so don't care, I've had quotes that claim to be xyz below list but in fact are about list once you work out how they've manipulated the quote. But they can offer to build things fr you, even install to site etc.
Cisco is difficult to get discount on, Juniper much easier and these days just as good and also cheaper long term support.
For low volume Dell - some fantastic deals are available on the outlet store occasionally. Also consider buying refurbished. Look at ETB-Tech for refurbished/almost new Dell and HP servers. Also switches and storage. Much easier to deal with too. If you're buying something to stick in a rack for 5 years then this is great, if it works for a month it's likely to work for 5 years and they give a years warranty anyway.
I get 30%+ off Dell by going direct but you need a £15k+vat spend at least and speak to Indian based account manager. Re-sellers have a different market - people who don't really know what discounts are available or are buying for a corporate so don't care, I've had quotes that claim to be xyz below list but in fact are about list once you work out how they've manipulated the quote. But they can offer to build things fr you, even install to site etc.
Cisco is difficult to get discount on, Juniper much easier and these days just as good and also cheaper long term support.
For low volume Dell - some fantastic deals are available on the outlet store occasionally. Also consider buying refurbished. Look at ETB-Tech for refurbished/almost new Dell and HP servers. Also switches and storage. Much easier to deal with too. If you're buying something to stick in a rack for 5 years then this is great, if it works for a month it's likely to work for 5 years and they give a years warranty anyway.
I've been pretty happy with Dell direct for many years. Account managers come and go, some are better than others but overall it works.
I use the Premier website to bet budgetary pricing, then contact the current 'account manager' and ask them what they can do to better it. Invariably works out well, especially if I can time purchases with their month/quarter/year end.
I use the Premier website to bet budgetary pricing, then contact the current 'account manager' and ask them what they can do to better it. Invariably works out well, especially if I can time purchases with their month/quarter/year end.
seveb said:
Depends how much you are spending.
I get 30%+ off Dell by going direct but you need a £15k+vat spend at least and speak to Indian based account manager. Re-sellers have a different market - people who don't really know what discounts are available or are buying for a corporate so don't care, I've had quotes that claim to be xyz below list but in fact are about list once you work out how they've manipulated the quote. But they can offer to build things fr you, even install to site etc.
Cisco is difficult to get discount on, Juniper much easier and these days just as good and also cheaper long term support.
For low volume Dell - some fantastic deals are available on the outlet store occasionally. Also consider buying refurbished. Look at ETB-Tech for refurbished/almost new Dell and HP servers. Also switches and storage. Much easier to deal with too. If you're buying something to stick in a rack for 5 years then this is great, if it works for a month it's likely to work for 5 years and they give a years warranty anyway.
The Dell Indian account managers seem to be under mega pressure to hit targets. Credit to the one I had though she did get me a decent discount and admitted that Dell have a scheme to undercut any other manufacturer which they did.I get 30%+ off Dell by going direct but you need a £15k+vat spend at least and speak to Indian based account manager. Re-sellers have a different market - people who don't really know what discounts are available or are buying for a corporate so don't care, I've had quotes that claim to be xyz below list but in fact are about list once you work out how they've manipulated the quote. But they can offer to build things fr you, even install to site etc.
Cisco is difficult to get discount on, Juniper much easier and these days just as good and also cheaper long term support.
For low volume Dell - some fantastic deals are available on the outlet store occasionally. Also consider buying refurbished. Look at ETB-Tech for refurbished/almost new Dell and HP servers. Also switches and storage. Much easier to deal with too. If you're buying something to stick in a rack for 5 years then this is great, if it works for a month it's likely to work for 5 years and they give a years warranty anyway.
I hadn't heard of ETB-Tech so will add them to the list. I've bought a good few refurb servers for less critical stuff but I've always used ServerSource who have been a pleasure to deal with and good support too. Normally a 3 year warranty too.
seveb said:
I get 30%+ off Dell by going direct but you need a £15k+vat spend at least and speak to Indian based account manager. Re-sellers have a different market - people who don't really know what discounts are available or are buying for a corporate so don't care, I've had quotes that claim to be xyz below list but in fact are about list once you work out how they've manipulated the quote. But they can offer to build things fr you, even install to site etc.
Complete rubbish sir, sorry.Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff