Wokingham-based reseller Selway Moore has viewed the EU directive
on the disposal of IT equipment as an opportunity to add another
string to its bow.
The outfit has been operating as a 'classic' reseller for six
years, but managing director Phil Reakes admitted it had been
suffering from financial peaks and troughs and wanted to smooth the
fluctuations.
But as a specialist in hardware, he argued it did not want to
target vertical markets with software and services because "you
suddenly find that you haven't got the skills to be successful".
To counter inconsistent revenues it had looked tentatively at IT
refurbishment. But Reakes believed with the slowdown in IT spending
last year, the EU waste, electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
directive presented a bigger opportunity.
The directive called for stricter regulations on the disposal of
electronic equipment and heavy fines for those that flouted the
system.
Despite continuing to promote its traditional server business,
Selway Moore has relaunched as a lifecycle management specialist
and plans to take a product from "birth through to death".
The company will design and implement new and refurbished equipment
and maintain, upgrade and cater for the disposal of the product.
The move is designed to complement its Sun and Hewlett-Packard
server sales, claimed Reakes. "Recycling is higher value but lower
volume and reseller business is higher volume and lower margin."
Customers will benefit from the approach, he added. "We'll provide
better asset management because we've got a better handle on
matching the volume of equipment that you write off and its street
value."
The dealer currently offers the service for server products, but
plans to provide it for desktop PCs as well.