Dicker Data and Optus partner to offer mobile services in Australia for the mid-market

The distie launched its telco unit last month.

After launching its telco unit last month, distributor Dicker Data has signed a strategic partnership deal with Optus to offer mobile services in Australia.

Through this partnership, Dicker Data’s partner ecosystem will offer Optus mobile solutions specifically designed for mid-market and enterprise requirements, including mobile device management, cost optimisation, secure networking and fleet administration.

Speaking to CRN Australia, Jason Hall, general manager for services at Dicker Data said the partnership between Optus and Dicker Data came down to alignment.

“We were thinking the same way, seeing the same opportunity. How could we bring that together and go to market collaboratively?” He said.

“We both see a tremendous amount of opportunity for telco and mobility in particular, into that mid market space. Being a distributor, we think channel is the way to go after that space.

“It was both of us recognising that opportunity and that ability to do something a little bit different. It was also about looking at it from a channel perspective and seeing that aspiration and opportunity there, and how we're going to do it,” he added.

The partnership will provide Dicker Data’s extensive network of reseller partners with access to Optus’ mobile fleet solutions, enabling businesses to optimise their mobile communications infrastructure and drive operational efficiency.

Ben Vella, VP enterprise and mid market at Optus said he saw 80 percent of mobility connections in mid market come through the consumer channels and bring your own device (BYOD).

"We see MSPs and channel partners as the real key partners for those customers to bring different technologies together, mobile is an extension of is an extension of that,” he said.

“Partnering with Dicker Data, with Hall and his team was great from the perspective that we had a common vision and values that we were able to bring together for the partnership.

“Then have that impact on the channel community and ultimately, customers. Making it easier for them to consume, integrate their technology together and drive what they need from the technology for the outcomes for their business.”

According to Vella, this partnership addresses the main gap of consumption and integration of technology.

“If you look at the traditional way of purchasing telecommunications and technology, you've gone through different channels and different avenues,” he said.

“This enables us to really unlock the partnerships that already exist with customers, with channel providers and MSPs, and start to bring together different parts of the solution to get a better experience for customers.”

Hall at Dicker Data believes this partnership with Optus will bridge the gap between telcos and technology partners.

“The challenge that we've seen that MSPs face is that generally, they've come from a technology perspective rather than a telco perspective,” he explained.

"One of the challenges that that we see within the market is that sometimes there's a bit of a gap, whether it be a knowledge gap, a terminology gap, a skills gap, between that telco and the technology.

“A lot of technology partners have got fabulous skills, but they just don't have that background in telco,” he added.

He said this is an opportunity for them to be working with “forward thinking telcos” like Optus.

“We, as Dicker Data can help bridge that gap in the way that we do for many other vendors, we're able to provide those partners with trusted people that they know who work alongside them,” Hall said.

Vella at Optus explained this partnership can open them up to new segments such as transportation and healthcare, with more industries on the horizon.

“We're seeing especially in areas like tracking of vehicles, tracking of camera tracking. What we can do to manage fleets from be it trucks, be it connected cars be it things like buses. We're seeing a lot of innovation and adoption in the in that vertical,” he said.

“Mobility is providing a lot of options to how you access specialist care, how we can bring the service to the customer in the environment where they need it, versus traditionally, having to go to a centre.”

Hall explained mobility is a “fantastic opportunity” for an MSP to expand into an area that they potentially hadn't been considering before.

“When you think about managing an end user compute device versus managing a mobile device, it's very similar,” he said.

“What's the connectivity requirements of that device, and how do you support that? What's the security, what's the applications? How do you manage that? Do you are you managing those end users?

Hall explained his dream scenario for this partnership.

“In 12 months time, if we've got partners out there who have expanded their end user compute practice to embrace mobility, to grow and develop a whole range of services that sit around this area.

“To me, that would be a great opportunity to look at it and go, we've been able to help grow the channel here,” he added.

For Vella, if Optus can do more in market that drives Australian companies' productivity through this, he said that is a “real win”.

“There's a lot of unlock potential, across how mobility services can be used within an organisation,” he said.

“The innovative thinking and the business partnering, I'm hoping will be best done by the MSPs, as they know they're the customers they're dealing with, and they're able to bring the best offerings in market to help those customers.”