How is Simms going in NZ ?

It certainly has been a busy year for the folks at Simms, with just over a year of the local company being in full swing in New Zealand. The company was formed in June '09 but things didn't really kick off until February 2010.

The key brand to launch the distributor was Dell, now a significant part of its business with over 110 channel partners actively selling the products according to Vaughan Nankivell, General Manager Corporate and Enterprise.

Dell seems happy, having extended the product range available through Simms to include Latitude notebooks last November, and the OptiPlex desktops in December. This has culminated in "record months in March and April for the Dell business at Simms", said Nankivell.

Interestingly the distributor isn't fussed by Dell's continued direct sales-force and relationship with Australasian retailer JB Hi-Fi. What Simms offers Dell is access to the SMB market that represents such a large proportion of the New Zealand economy.

Simms has extended its successes beyond Dell, having grown a strong market for both Motion and Kingston. For Kingston, Simms established a dedicated reseller hotline for pre-sales assistance and price support.

In August 2010, the company got cracking on the retail part of the business, with two key hires Sam Taylor and Michelle Harrington. Although Harrington has since left, the company's retail offering continues to include Kanex cables, Tucano laptop bags, Power Traveler and other peripherals.

Nankivell attributes the company's success to its focus and quality support for core vendors. "Our people are simply awesome and they are passionate about our customers and delivery value for our vendors," he said.

Nankivell said that while there are no immediate plans to add more brands, the company is talking to prospective vendors and additonal core brands in the future is possible.