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biz.yahoo.com
Tuesday November 16, 8:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Gateway, Inc.
Computacenter and Gateway Announce Partnership
New 'Service Direct' Model Pioneered, Greatly Enhancing Gateway's European Distribution Capabilities
LONDON, and SAN DIEGO, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- In a move that greatly enhances the company's European distribution capabilities, Gateway, Inc. (NYSE: GTW - news) has entered into a two-year partnership agreement with Computacenter, Europe's leading IT systems and services company, that will allow Computacenter to sell and support Gateway PC products in Europe.
Under the terms of the agreement, Computacenter will act as Gateway's preferred partner in the UK for corporate and government markets making Gateway's high-quality products available to customers in these key market sectors via Computacenter's extensive UK customer base.
The partnership is the first agreement of its kind between a global build-to-order PC manufacturer and the leading European channel partner. The model, which both parties are calling 'Service-Direct', offers the benefits of Gateway's build-to-order capability providing customers with fast, cost effective access to the very latest technology. This combines with Computacenter's proven expertise in providing a full range of desktop services for corporate customers, from planning through to implementation and support.
''Our partnership with Computacenter will provide us with an ideal platform from which to drive corporate sales in Europe,'' said Mike Swalwell, Vice President and Managing Director, Gateway EMEA. ''Gateway's award-winning range of tailor-made PCs supported by added value services from Computacenter presents a highly attractive proposition for the corporate and Government market.''
Commenting on the announcement Mike Norris, Chief Executive, Computacenter plc said: ''Gateway is one of the six leading PC brands in the world, offering customers early access to new technology, in-built product quality and stability plus low cost of ownership. Combine this with Computacenter's expertise in desktop delivery and support and you have what we believe is an optimised combination for our customers.''
Computacenter and Gateway will initially focus on developing sales via Gateway's 'E-Series' range of desktop PCs, specifically designed for corporate computing. Computacenter will utilise its existing team of over 300 account managers servicing Corporate and Government customers in the UK. Gateway will deploy is UK sales effort to focus on developing its SME business and strengthen its sales resource with additional dedicated staff to support the Computacenter UK relationship.
Initially, products supplied to Computacenter's customers will be built to order at Gateway's Dublin-based manufacturing facility with custom configuration added at Computacenter's UK-based facilities. Customers not requiring custom configuration services will receive product delivery directly from Gateway's Dublin manufacturing facility for installation and support by Computacenter.
About Gateway
Gateway (NYSE: GTW - news), a Fortune 250 company founded in 1985, focuses on building lifelong relationships with consumers and businesses through complete technology personalization. Gateway ranked number one in U.S. consumer PC revenue in the second quarter of 1999 (1) and was rated among the top ten best corporate reputations in America according to a survey conducted in August of 1999 by Harris Interactive and the Reputation Institute and published in The Wall Street Journal. Gateway employees worldwide provide clients with services and built-to-order computers that consistently win top awards from leading industry publications. Gateway had total global revenue of $7.5 billion in 1998 and shipped 3.54 million systems. For more information, visit our Web site at www.gateway.com
1. According to GartnerGroup/Dataquest US PC Quarterly statistics.
About Computacenter
Computacenter is the largest UK-owned distributed IT systems and services company. The company's corporate and government clients are served by a network of 30 branches across the UK, France, Germany and Belgium, and, through the international joint venture ICG, at locations throughout Europe, Asia Pacific and North America. Visit Computacenter's web site at computacenter.com
SOURCE: Gateway, Inc.
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