Huawei raids rivals' channels to pilfer dealer partners

Huawei wants to bed 1,000 resellers across Western Europe this year as it tries to crank up the pressure on rivals.

The Chinese giant has already signed a bunch of distributors in the region including SDG and Micro P in the UK and recently lifted the covers off its first channel programme in preparation for more concerted dealer recruitment.

"We have a simplified framework," said Huawei veep for EMEA channels Dominique Vanhamme. "The industry has been plagued by complex programmes and structures that partners need to go through to do business."

He said resellers needed to sit one certification track to flog its tech and services, and that Huawei was pushing out "above the channel standard" marketing funds and rebates to lure in prospective partners.

UK channel development is being steered by former HP UK and Ireland partner boss Dave Poskett who has roped in 50 Cisco, HP and Avaya dealers in six months – with another 100 forecast to sign up before the year is out.

"We'd like to have 1,000 in Western Europe," said Vanhamme. "There is a strong interest from resellers to have an alternative to the large American brands."

Two trends were playing into the hands of vendors pushing out standardised networking tin: commoditisation and software defined networking, said Keith Humphreys, managing partner at market watcher Eurolan.

Humphreys added: "The only question mark [over Huawei] is: Can they execute to cash in on the opportunities?" ®