George,
To my knowledge, DEC (and HP and IBM) have always had a reseller channel for low end (minis/micros) products. Value Added Remarketeers have had agreements directly with the hardware providers. More recently DEC low end products have been made available through Distributors such as Microage, IMD, TechData. THe Prioris line of dual (P5) processor servers is the largest system I know of offered through distribution. Compaq also sells Prosignia and ProLiant (multi-processor) servers (works with Unix and NT) like DEC through that channel.
Larger VARs, those who sell the IBM AS400/Risc 6000, the HP 9000 series, deal directly with the manufacturer in most cases.
PCs, sometimes different models than available through the retail channel, are available through distribution. Sometimes crossover between channels exists. A compaq deskpro, proSignia and ProLiant, for example, used to be available through resellers (who support the products). I have recently seen catalogue offerings of these CPQ products.
BIG iron, i.e. Big VAX, IBM, NCR, UIS, still move via direct sales force of the manufacturer. Small stuff like PCs have been treated more like peripherals. Virtually all manufacturers have tried to get their PC products on retailers shelves.
RW |
