Software Licensing Offers VARs Opportunities

摘要

Facing Gloomy Hardware sales forecasts for the new year, SMB VARs and distributors could find hope in software licensing-plus a new licensing discount program from Microsoft. In recent months, major distributors, including Ingram Micro, D&H Distributing, Merisel, Synnex Information Technologies and Tech Data, have been saying the future looks bright for software. Their numbers bear that out. For example, at Tech Data's fiscal Q3 2002 earnings announcement, software was the lone highlight, increasing 11 percent over the previous guarter, while other segments, such as systems and peripherals, posted declines. In addition, Merisel, which sold off its hardware and logistics operations and is now almost completely focused on software, posted sales of $20.7 million in Q3, reflecting an 83 percent increase in software-licensing sales from $11.3 million for the same period in 2001.