Credit: Leader
Leader has inked a new distribution agreement with Schneider Electric, taking aim at the small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) market.
The relationship between the two firstly formed in 2015 as a reseller deal and eventually a sub-distribution agreement in 2020 in the lead up to cementing this newest arrangement, which will see Leader access a range of APC IT solutions to support edge or data centre applications, including UPS, power distribution, data racking and micro data centres.
Leader will also have access to Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure IT software, enabling proactive management of customers’ critical power and cooling infrastructure. Leader joins Dicker Data, Ingram Micro, Lawrence & Hanson and MMEM in the Australian distribution line up.
“Through this distribution arrangement, we want to ensure all partners have equal access to the depth and breadth of APC offerings by Schneider Electric. We know from our experience of working with Leader that they are aligned on our ‘customer first’ values,” said Astrid Groves, Schneider general manager of sales for IT and edge.
“By providing partners with access to training, technical support, and marketing capabilities, they will support our objective of adding real value to our market across Australia.
“Small businesses are the ‘engine room’ of the Australian economy[,yet] they often have limited access to the skills and processes required to deploy the complex technologies we see in the market today, putting them at an unfair disadvantage.”
As part of this deal, Schneider will tap into Leader’s partner base of more than 12,000 IT resellers across the country.
Both Schneider and Leader share a vision to grow infrastructure and development, particularly for SMEs, as well as regional areas in Australia.
“This partnership is an exciting opportunity for resellers to offer the best solutions to their end users for server, storage and datacentre deployments,” Leader managing director Theo Kristoris said.
“With significant growth of our networking category, as well as the acceleration of hybrid cloud, this is an exciting time for the partnership of our organisations.
“Leader has a history of building market share and close relationships with our vendors and resellers. We look forward to doing the same with APC.”
Leader has been building up its portfolio, including products such as Inno3D earlier this week, and launched its own cloud-based private branch exchange for its channel partners in Australia in early December.
