Client Reference Panduit SI Channel Program Research

Extensive research with partners across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, together with competitive benchmarking, helped Panduit design a program that would appeal to this new breed of partners.

The Challenge

One of the leading global manufacturers of connectivity solutions, Panduit had traditionally sold mostly through contractors.

However they needed to rework their partner program to appeal to the system integrators that lead data centre implementation, where there most profitable and fastest-growing business lies.

bChannels services for Panduit

bChannels used specialist telephone research companies with which it has worked for many years to contact system integrators in UK, Germany, France, Spain, Poland and the UAE. They were asked what support was important to them, how well their existing vendors delivered this and what their attitudes were to Panduit.

This, combined with information sourced from industry contacts on the competitors' programs, identified the table stakes and potential areas of differentiation for Panduit. The research was then adapted for and repeated in Asia, covering China, India, Australia, Singapore and Japan.

This helped determine how flexible the program would need to be to support local requirements.

Why this matters to Panduit

In a commoditised and highly competitive market that is not as well supported by vendors as other IT segments, Panduit found some immediate and cost-effective areas to differentiate. This has shaped the priorities for the program now rolling out.