Dicker Data aims for complete HP range

Dicker Data will continue its fight for access to HP’s Printing and Imaging Group (IPG) products after gaining rights to the vendor’s networking portfolio.

As reported on ARN this week, HP announced it would open up ProCurve to all Enterprise Server, Storage and Networking (ESSN) distributors as part of a global networking strategy following the 3Com acquisition. The decision sees Dicker Data, Avnet and Lynx Technologies recognised as ProCurve distributors locally alongside longstanding partner, Ingram Micro.

ProCurve represents Dicker’s first big foray into the networking space, its managing director, David Dicker said. The distributor also carries Netgear, which he claimed was a more niche offering.

“It’s a big deal for us – it’s hard to sell the server equipment when you don’t do the networking parts,” he said. “We have been doing servers for years, but without having the networking products, so this new arrangement offers us a big advantage.

“This deal is part of our focus on increasing our strategy and investment with HP. All the other distributors carry other vendor products, or Cisco, but we will be the only ones doing just HP, which will be our differentiator. We will now be a stronger player with HP, and it gives dealers more opportunity to deal with someone with a sharper focus on HP.”

Dicker was confident the distributor’s existing HP team would be able to support the expanded range, given it’s in-depth skill set.

It is unclear at this stage when products will be in stock. HP is also yet to reveal how it will integrate the 3Com portfolio into its networking line-up, and how this will affect ESSN distributors.

Dicker Data’s HP portfolio now extends across ESSN, ProCurve, desktop PC and notebook hardware. But despite repeated attempts to gain access to the IPG portfolio over the years, the distributor has yet to be successful.

“We still don’t have that [IPG] piece yet, but we still want them,” Dicker said. He revealed the distributor continues to periodically engaging with HP and hadn’t lost hope that it would gain distribution rights in the future.