Tech-as-a-Service takes off in the UK

Multi-funder, multi-vendor strategy ensures the most competitive rate for end-users on hardware, software and services products.

Thursday, 25th January 2018 Posted 6 years ago in by Phil Alsop

Tech Data today has launched its new award-winning Tech-as-a-Service programme in the UK. This programme is designed to transform the way end-users consume technology by offering the most competitive rates and residual values in the UK market and provides channel partners life-cycle management capability. The programme was awarded Most Innovative Project of the Year by CRN on November 16, 2017.

The UK is the first country in Europe to bring the programme to market with other regions scheduled to implement the offer throughout the early part of 2018. The launch comes on the back of the announcement on Oct. 10^th, 2017 at Tech Data’s Investor Day by Senior Vice President of Services, John O’Shea, that Tech Data is focused on providing channel partners a differentiated Device-as-a-Service offering.

The programme makes it simple, quick and easy for resellers to provide customers with hardware, software and services on subscription. This provides end-users access to the very latest technologies without having to find budget for up-front capital investment. Resellers can add their own services offerings, such as installation, training, maintenance and support, as part of the overall subscription.

Matt Child, Executive Lead for Tech Data UK, stated: “Many customers are moving towards a services-based, pay-as-you-go model for their IT consumption. With our programme, resellers can now offer a full technology solution in a single subscription. Technology acquisition, deployment, management, and end-of-life recycling are all covered under one agreement and delivered through flexible payment options.”

Taking a multi-funder approach, Tech Data ensures that resellers can offer end-users the most competitive subscription rates for hardware products in the UK market. Tech Data has streamlined the subscription process for resellers by providing automated tools to create compelling subscription offers in real-time. For resellers, the programme is far less cumbersome than traditional finance models, provides the opportunity to increase margin on every offer and positions channel partners as trusted IT advisors with their customers.

Working with multiple vendors, Tech Data has built the programme to align with vendor product strategies to ensure that resellers maximise their manufacturer rebates and end-users procure a purpose-built solution that meets their needs rather than settling for the solution they doesn’t fully satisfy their requirements.

The programme is currently available to all Tech Data resellers in the UK and is compliant with education, government and corporate regulations. The offer provides end-users the flexibility to upscale as organisations grow and refresh technology more frequently than on a capital purchase. The technology that enables the quote-to-contract process is fully integrated into Tech Data’s UK e-commerce systems which means that users can instantly provide pricing, payment terms and contracts to their customers; it was important to have a proprietary system and not a ‘warm hand-off’ to a third party organisation as commonly happens in financing circles as Tech Data is fully committed to driving this growth area of the market and deemed it sensible and appropriate to invest accordingly. The programme further enables resellers to build customers for life and really understand their end-users’ IT needs, budgets and technology strategies.