NEC sharpens focus on education

NEC Display Solutions has stepped up its campaign to target end users in the public sector, particularly in education.
“We think the public sector and education has massive value,” Neil Hartigan, channel director at NEC Display Solutions told Channel Pro. “We are engaging with telesales and tele-canvassing to target those markets, and then offering the business to our resellers.
Hartigan also revealed NEC had teamed up digital signage firm Sedao on packages for the education sector, offering users bespoke bundles of digital panels and Sedao software. He cites the refresh of projectors and introduction of low-end signage applications in secondary education as opportunities for AV resellers.
“There’s lots of money being spent in higher education, with projectors being introduced, videoconferencing and a more sophisticated AV set up now. We are making good in-roads in the higher education market alongside our existing partners.”
He adds: “We are still very much in recruitment mode, and still 100 percent channel-focused.”
Hartigan admits that NEC isn’t the cheapest choice on the market, but believes it is still regarded as a “premium brand, but also the brand of choice.”
He says:  “This is a market where lots of solutions are being generated and cost is always at the forefront of end users’ minds. We want customers to think more long-term around quality and reliability. People have to adopt a long term view – cutting corners on cost is a very short term view, and will come back and bite them.”