What exactly is an IT Reseller?

Since joining OneLink IT, a lot of people have been asking me what exactly an IT reseller does.

For those of us in this industry, it seems like a straightforward explanation, but I’m realizing that many don’t fully understand this line of business.  In simplest terms, a reseller is an intermediary who re-sells a product or service.

The Reseller Breakfast

Imagine you have nothing for breakfast. You could contact your local dairy farm, discuss products, negotiate terms and finally, cut a purchase order for milk. Rinse and repeat that process with General Mills and Kellogg’s to get your hands on some Lucky Charms or Froot Loops.  Don’t forget to sign a contract with Oneida for your bowl and spoon. Mountains of paperwork and two weeks later, you can take delivery of your breakfast items – assuming you have a delivery dock and can fit a pallet of goods in your kitchen.

This direct model is horribly inefficient for a consumer. Major manufacturers have no time to deal with single buyers wanting only a single box of cereal. Plus, you couldn’t come close to the purchasing power needed to make that milk actually cost-effective. Enter the reseller. In this model, they take the form of Walmart, Target or Albertsons. They have the purchasing power to negotiate in bulk, drive down prices and offer the widest range of selection to the ultimate consumer, or End User.

Now imagine that your small business is looking to open a second location and hire 15 more employees. At the very least you’ll need 15 new laptops and perhaps a new server at the second location. What about your customer database? How can you make sure that transactions from Location B are synced with transactions at Location A? And shouldn’t you encrypt those new laptops in case they’re stolen? What if the building burns down and destroys your hardware?

Technology Brokers

Answering these questions are essentially what OneLink IT does for our customers. We use our channel relationships to offer products and services to businesses from vendors like Microsoft, Cisco and Symantec. We drive down prices by working with manufacturers to obtain lower costs. We offer a wider selection of choices than simply shopping with one manufacturer.  Think of us as Technology Brokers.  Just like an insurance agent, we understand your unique needs, make intelligent recommendations and then work our channel relationships to deliver you the best prices on powerful solutions that shape your business.

“But what about places like Amazon or Best Buy? Can’t I buy a copy of Windows from the electronics section at Walmart?”

What exactly is an IT Reseller?
Pictured: customer looking for his anti-virus renewal at a Big Box Store.

Sure. But remember that the IT Reseller model is setup for efficiency. In your small business, do you want to be managing and installing 30 separate copies of software, with 30 different license keys and 30 different support dates? Of course not. And what if you need a recommendation for new hardware and technology? All respect to hard-working retail employees, but can your business afford to make IT decisions on the suggestions of someone who splits their shift stocking produce or slicing deli meat?

Further, what about the services that your business will need? When you buy that copy of Adobe from Target, will they come back to your business and install it? Support it?

OneLink IT

The Link Source Approach

At OneLink IT, we’re proud to be resellers.  When you do business with us, you can be sure we’ll protect those Lucky Charms.

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