AZLAN’S FELIX GETS ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE FROM CISCO PARTNERS LOOKING TO DRIVE SERVICES SALES

Azlan, the enterprise systems division of Computer 2000, has received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to the launch of its Felix online quoting, ordering and contract renewals system for Cisco SMARTnet Services and is expecting the system to help partners drive significant new services business.

Using Felix, resellers can generate SMARTnet quotes and orders faster and more accurately. It also helps ensure that resellers are made aware of opportunities to renew Cisco SMARTnet Service contracts with registered customers.

Mark Wheeler, Cisco Business Manager for Azlan, said that resellers had been responding very positively to the system. “Felix is now fully open for business in the UK and we’ve had a tremendous response so far from Cisco partners. The pilot phase went extremely well and now that we have gone live, several resellers have started to use the system as the centrepiece of their SMARTnet activity. We are absolutely convinced that Felix will help them to drive incremental business they will see very significant and immediate benefits, both in terms of their contract renewals and new business development.”

Reseller feedback on Felix so far has been exceptionally good. Graham Clark, Account Manager at Guernsey reseller, Itex, stated:  “The whole process was unbelievably easy.  Being able to order immediately is the icing on the cake.  Obviously I’m still new to Felix but I would highly recommend given my experience so far.”

Matthew Preston, Procurement Manager at Wavex Technology said: “Azlan have taken every pain point and bottleneck out and delivered a single portal which is intuitive. It also only quotes you for the services that are directly applicable to the piece of hardware you have selected, taking away the possibility of ordering a service that isn’t the right one.

Built and developed by Azlan from the ground-up, Felix is fully-integrated with Cisco’s own ordering systems and provides complete end-to-end integration, from the identification of opportunities to quoting, ordering and confirmation of the Cisco SMARTnet Service contract. Using Felix, Cisco partners can build and produce a final quote, ready to be passed onto the customer, within minutes, saving time, giving them a better chance of winning business, and improving customer satisfaction. Changes are applied instantaneously and all quotes are validated to help ensure that the right service is being offered for the right product. This also reduces the potential for errors. Quotations and order certificates are delivered in a professional electronic format and can be translated into local languages and currencies as required.

A critical component of the system is the renewals management function – a unique tool that can be used to search for contract renewals that are due with a fixed period. Resellers can use this feature to search for contracts with their registered customers that are due to expire within any period and use Felix to generate an appropriate quotation in advance.

This will enable resellers to never miss an opportunity to generate repeat business, said Wheeler. “It is not easy for resellers to keep track of when customers are due to renew. By providing them with the ability to check dates quickly and easily, Felix will enable Cisco partners to approach customers at exactly the right time. In doing so, they will enhance the level of service they are offering and generate valuable repeat business for themselves.”

Another important feature is Click To View, which enables resellers to authorise Cisco to provide Felix with visibility of all Cisco SMARTnet contracts that they have sold, in addition to those that were originally signed-up via Azlan. This enables the Cisco partner to maximise the potential of Felix to generate renewals business.

Azlan worked with Cisco to closely integrate Felix and the vendor’s own order management solutions. Enhancements that will make Felix even more useful to resellers are already being planned, says Wheeler. “With Felix, Azlan is adding significant value for Cisco partners. No other Cisco distributor in Europe has the same capabilities, so Felix really sets us apart from the competition. We will continue to invest in the further enhancement of Felix to ensure that we stay ahead and deliver even more benefits to the growing number of resellers for whom Azlan is now the first partner of choice for all their Cisco requirements.”

About Azlan

Azlan is the specialist enterprise systems division of Computer 2000, which is the UK operation of Tech Data Europe. Through its collection of specialist business units, which include Azlan Maverick, Brightstar and Datech, Computer 2000 provides resellers with a unique combination of focused expertise in key areas of the market and unrivalled stock-holding, logistics, and financial services. Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ GS: TECD) is one of the world’s largest distributors of technology products from leading IT hardware and software producers. Tech Data serves more than 125,000 IT solution providers in over 100 countries. Every day, these resellers depend on Tech Data to cost-effectively support the technology needs of end users, including small and medium businesses (SMB), large enterprises and government agencies. Ranked 109th on the FORTUNE 500(R), Tech Data generated $22.1 billion in net sales for its fiscal year ended January 31, 2010. To learn more, visit www.techdata.com

For further information contact:

Alice Smitheman, Marketing Director
Tel: 0871 880 3000
Email: alice.smitheman@computer2000.co.uk