Alain Coulder,Packard Bell on strategies-Direct vs Resellers.
Uncle:
I have a feeling these guys haven't a clue let alone strategies.<g>
================================================
AN INTERVIEW WITH ALAIN COULDER: PACKARD BELL NEC
Dec. 11, 1998 (Computer Reseller News - CMP via COMTEX) --
CRN: What compelled you to change strategies?
Alain Couder: What we have done in terms of strategy is try to understand how we differentiate ourselves from the competition. IBM [Corp.], Hewlett-Packard [Co.] and Compaq [Computer Corp.] are also in the service business at a point where most of the resellers are moving toward services, more and more. Dell [Computer Corp.] has clearly a distribution model which is direct, and we were trying to mirror [that] with NEC Now. NEC Now has not been a success for us in the United States. So, we decided it was not the right thing to pursue NEC Now, which was really just to copy Dell, and I do not believe you can succeed just with a me-too strategy arriving several years later.
CRN: To what do you attribute the lack of success of NEC Now?
Couder: In the [United States], we tried to emulate Dell [through] a big-splash announcement and [spending a] huge [amount of] money [on] advertising, and on and on and on. In Europe, we've been doing it in a much more conservative fashion. First, we bought a company that was already doing that, so we bought the expertise. Second, we are growing the business in a profitable way. It's slow, but it's growing.
CRN: Did you send out the wrong message in your big-splash announcement? Could NEC Now have worked some other way in the United States?
Couder: When you're doing 80 percent of your business with the channel and do a big announcement saying, "Look, guys, I'm going to do it differently from now on," you just lose a large portion of your current business. I think some of our competitors are making a mistake right now, which is good for us now that we are back [in the channel]. I really plan to take advantage of that.
CRN: So the timing is opportunistic?
Couder: It is strategic, not opportunistic.......
(Excerpts only) |
