Landesk looks to expand NZ reseller base

In 2015 Landesk is looking to bring in more resellers in New Zealand, says Andrew Souter, Landesk ANZ country manager.

HelpDesk Solutions is Landesk's only current reseller in New Zealand. The company specialises in IT Service Management Software and are a premium affiliate partner of Landesk.

"HelpDesk has been a long term partner. They know our business and New Zealand, they know why customers are asking for different things, and they offer local support and services," says Souter.

However Souter says, "We're on the lookout for new channel partners all the time. New Zealand is one of our best markets."

New Zealand companies often try technology before anyone else and large companies will be more open to new products, he says.

When there is an issue New Zealanders will often want to solve it on their own and like to try and find answers instead of asking for help, says Souter. This is where products such as Service Desk 7.8, released this week, come in.

Souter says Landesk's customers have been telling them who they buy their software from in New Zealand. He says Landesk has been looking at the services the companies provide and where their service desk, management and mobility software can fit into that.

"We have the unique software that can help us deliver for a lower price," says Souter. "Landesk is a well known brand, and we think resellers can add value-add with us."

Souter says Landesk wants to find partners with skills in integration. He says they are looking for resellers who have the right skills and the right people who can implement the software.

Landesk opens up new markets for local partners, he says.

"With Service Desk 7.8 we tried to make it more about the user, especially for countries like New Zealand where many people work remotely and teams are spread out," says Souter. "We tried to make it more mobile aware for the mobile platform."

"Users can log service desk requests from a mobile device, they don't have to be in the main office or turn on a PC, they can be working on problems from anywhere," he says.

With greater contextual awareness the Service Desk 7.8 knows where the user is, what they're trying to do, and can provide more help, Souter says.

In New Zealand there are less IT people and less options, and this product enables the user and makes it less likely they will have to come back and ask for help, he says.

Landesk has focused on mobility for the last 4-5 years when they noticed everyone was moving to iPhones and Android devices, says Souter.

This means Landesk has spent the past 4-5 years working on products to help secure, track and manage mobile devices as well as applications that run on a mobile device, he says.

Landesk BridgeIT is a product that provides users with a responsive web interface on mobile devices and desktop platforms. It bridges the gap between different departments of a business and increases user efficiency and productivity, says Souter.

When people in different departments log in, they see what is relevant to their role and not what isn't necessary to know in their departments.

"The BridgeIT platform is not something that other competitors are doing," says Souter. "During the year we will release a number of things for different types of users.

Souter says generally the software company releases two or three major updates a year, although at the rate the industry is changing this could be altered.

"As a software company you're never comfortable, you're constantly changing, adapting, creating. We are always looking into new markets and paying attention to new things that come up," says Souter.

"We don't want to say too much about what is coming up in the next 12 months because we don't want our competitors to steal our ideas, but we will be continuing to improve and make solutions no one else does," he says.