Rivals have been swift to woo Cable and Wireless’s (C&W) stranded channel partners after the troubled telco axed its two-tier channel model last week (CRN, 30 January).
The shock move, exclusively revealed by CRN, involved C&W cutting back its indirect channels including partners that sell C&W-branded products, leaving distributors and resellers in limbo.
Mark Cornell, head of BT Partner Management, told CRN: “It is a fantastic opportunity for BT and other vendors, but it seems a strange time for C&W to change its strategy.”
Cornell said this year will provide a huge opportunity for convergence through the channel and the C&W announcement will only serve to boost rivals’ fortunes.
“Many of C&W’s resellers have been keen to talk to BT and it is a great time for resellers to assess their market strategy, with BT totally committed to the channel,” added Cornell.
John Carter, managing director at BT distributor DMSL, said: “We have had four or five C&W resellers on the phone since the news and the ones already doing a bit with us have now fully switched.”
Comms provider Telstra has already prepared incentives for migrating C&W partners, with special commercial packages to enable cost free migration from C &W to Telstra.
Ben Le Feuvre, Telstra Europe’s manager for indirect sales, said the C&W announcement could leave resellers uncertain about some carriers’ channel commitment.
“It was not positive news for the market, but we are taking the channel seriously and are delivering new services and benefits.”
Le Feuvre said Telstra is attempting to establish a long-term channel set-up where resellers can trust the vendor to remain indirect.
Bernie Dodwell, alliances manager at Westcon, which signed a distribution agreement with C&W only last month before the plug was pulled, said: “There is an opportunity for rivals to take this business, but C&W’s resellers would have long contracts that C&W will still have to service, so they cannot just switch immediately.”
Keith Edwards, sales director at distributor Interface Advantage, who also split with C&W last week, said: “Considering the resources poured into the channel over the past two years by C&W, the announcement is very surprising and frankly bizarre.
“Clearly this will have an impact on our business and we will be working with our customers to understand this in detail. However we have well developed relationships and business streams in place with other providers.”
C&W refused to talk to CRN about its plans and a representative said: “Our next update to the market will be on 28 February where we will provide more information.”
However, last week the telco did announce a profit warning, a company restructuring and the loss of chief executive, Francesco Caio, at the end of the financial year.
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