Five minutes with...Avenir

Five minutes with Andy Tow, managing director at AvenirCan you give us some background on Avenir?We're a dynamic company in a dynamic market. In the UK, we focus on airtime, accessories and ICT, all with a B2B focus. We're independent, and we have excellent relationships with major networks such as O2, 3, Orange and Opal. Avenir was founded in 1989, so we're currently celebrating our 20th anniversary.

What area of the ICT market does it focus on?
We're a distributor of mobile computing products from the likes of Samsung, Asus, HP and Sony. Our clients are dealers, resellers, systems integrators and installers both in the mobile, IT and convergence space.  With the growth of mobile broadband this year - which our clients often bundle with laptop sales - the boundaries between these three areas are increasingly breaking down.What technologies, if any, does Avenir want to add to its portfolio?
Well in addition to following the mobile/IT convergence path, we've also worked heavily this year in fixed-line telecoms. In April we partnered with Opal (TalkTalk's B2B division) to roll out their 'Premium Grade' broadband service. It was the first time Opal had ever partnered with a B2B-only airtime distributor.

Managed services is another area experiencing significant market growth, as a result of a stretched economy. Immediate benefits include the possibility of getting a business up and running without the necessary capital expenditure required for mainstream IT services.

And, as I mentioned, mobile broadband represents an enormous opportunity to UK businesses, especially on the pay-as-you-go model. Earlier this year we ran a major promotion with O2 in which we sent out free mobile broadband test units to our entire dealer base, so they could try out the technology for themselves, and demo it to their customers.

There are two other areas worth mentioning. Firstly, mobile tracking: in the current market, business owners want to get a true understanding of their employee’s productivity versus return, and mobile tracking is a great way of ensuring maximum return for all parties. And secondly, we are also all rather excited about being able to offer O2's brand new 'Joined Up' service, which is its new fixed line proposition.

What do you think are the biggest challenges currently affecting the channel?
From my conversations with clients, the main thing that keeps coming up is cash flow, especially for SME businesses. They're also really feeling the volatility of the market. On the positive side, many are finding new routes to market, engineering new ways to stand out from the crowd and tackling the old 'spend less, earn more adage': providing the same level of service while cutting down on costs.

How has the current economic downturn affected Avenir's business strategy?
I think in much the same that it's affected our clients.  It's made us focus heavily on retention, made us acutely aware of working as cost effectively as possible, and with long-term relationships always in mind.  It's also reinforced our core focus areas: airtime, mobile broadband, SIM-only and SIM-free devices, applications and accessories.

What is Avenir doing to help its reseller partners grow their businesses at this time?
I can answer this with a 'seven point plan'...  Firstly, financial stability – we're supporting our clients cash flow situations by paying commission on a weekly basis. Secondly, adding value – in terms of helping them cross-sell applications and accessories. Then there's the provision of additional marketing and sales support. And one of our classics – incentives.  Incentivising clients across airtime and hardware.  We've also increased our focus on training this year, covering both new technologies and new market trends. We've extended this out into a range of data forums, which allows everyone to bounce off each others' knowledge and learn about new sales techniques. The seventh part of the equation is commitment to being client-focused, trying to always act as an extension of out clients' internal resource.

What technologies if any does Avenir want to add to its portfolio?
We are currently researching a variety of technologies, actually, one of which is M2M (machine-to-machine communications). Also known as telemetry, this involves the transit of data between two computer terminals; one of which may require internet connectivity via Wi-Fi or data-enabled simcards with a fixed reference point (IP address).

An example of this would be a simcard-embedded vending machine. Each time stock is low or the vending machine requires maintenance, it sends data to a centralised point. On receiving the servicing request, the vendor or manufacturer can then send out an employee to replenish stock or carry out repairs.  

For some GPS tracking products, such simcards can be used to triangulate the position of a vehicle with the help of mobile operator cell sites. Sim-embedded security cameras can use high-speed internet connectivity to upload imagery to remote management employees.  The list goes on...

Avenir is currently reviewing telemetry opportunities around payment gateway service providers – this appears to be a growing market. The initial ARPU will be low, but the benefit lies in the familiarity of the service (for example ease of use and 'always on' technology) and the longevity of the contracts that will be in place for the service. Plus, there will also be a minimal requirement for customer service if the solution can be deployed correctly. Interesting times ahead...