24/7 Distribution to handle Sony videoconferencing gear

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 16 November 2011 14:52

IT Industry - Strategy

Australia's videoconferencing market is getting hotter with Japanese giant Sony making a serious attempt to break into it via new distribution arrangements with unified communications systems distributor 24/7 Distribution.

The move comes just a day after another newcomer to the local market, Huawei, announced new versions of its products claiming interoperability and lower total cost of ownership as key competitive advantages.

Paul Maroni group marketing manager for Sony Professional Solutions in Australia told iTWire that, prior to the appointment of 24/7, distribution of videoconferencing products had been via Sony's audiovisual equipment dealer network - which it serves direct - but distribution had been somewhat ad hoc.

"We are very strong in AV mainly on the professional equipment side'¦but video is very IT centric, it is very bandwidth hungry'¦and our AV dealers really did have the expertise to handle this," he said.

24/7 will take the products to market through its network of IT dealers and "will be able to provide the level of support our AV dealers require," Maroni said.

He said that Sony had a full range of systems "from standard definition to high definition that you can build up to 200 sites," as well as the top end telepresence products, but local market penetration was minimal.

"There are not that many installed in Australia. We do have some high profile customers, Bridgestone is one." However, he added: "Globally the business is growing exponentially. So we looked at the overseas business model and that is to select an appropriate partner and support that partner."

24/7 managing director, Tony Geagea, said: "24/7, with Sony's support, will work with our reseller base to provide: sales lead generation; onsite product demonstrations to end users; presales support to end users on behalf of resellers; professional services to end users on behalf of resellers including project management and installation; flexible post sale services including maintenance options and managed services; case studies and customer testimonials."

He added: "We are committed to providing carrier network services such as fixed voice, data, Internet and mobile - to complement our unified communications product portfolio to create a complete managed unified communications and ICT offering. The addition of video completes the picture."