D-Link Corporation, a global leader in connectivity solutions for small, medium and large enterprise business networking, has announced that it is strengthening its focus in the GCC as the company wants its channel partners to grow their share of business in this geography.

According to the vendor that makes solutions in the IP Surveillance, Wireless, Switching, Storage, Security, Cloud, VoIP, Print Servers, Structured Cabling, Digital Home, 3G/4G Routers, Power over Ethernet Kit, Powerline, KVM, Structured Cabling and Digital home offerings, the strategy to reinforce its focus on the GCC market comes at a time when D-Link has continued to witness growth despite a tough business climate.

Sakkeer Hussain, Director – Sales and Marketing, D-Link Middle East and Africa (MEA), said the GCC market has continued to show maturity in IT even though spending slowed down in 2016 largely due to the drop in crude oil prices.

Hussain pointed out that the UAE leads in terms of the number of technology projects, IT spending and business in general and is closely followed by Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. “Saudi Arabia is by far the biggest market in the GCC but doing business in the Kingdom is not easy especially now that the country is moving away from its reliance on oil revenue,” he observed. “That said, the SMB segment is doing well in Saudi Arabia and we have seen that with our own networking SMB business.”

He explained that without doubt, the broader Middle East and the channel business has been affected and impacted by the drop in oil prices. “That has naturally put further pressure on margins hence the need for vendors and distributors to step in and help partners to navigate these challenges and emerge much stronger when the market improves,” he said. “I believe that opportunities in the PC hardware space will continue to be tight given that this sector has witnessed sluggish sales in the last few years.”

Hussain said D-Link has decided to reinforce its networking business in the GCC because the company is seeing steady growth in the networking segment as Internet broadband penetration continues to grow in the consumer, SOHO and SMB space. “The high Internet penetration rates in the GCC are helping to push the networking solutions market,” he noted. D-Link has a wide product and solutions portfolio, which the partner ecosystem can take advantage of. “From the broad product categories and multiple offerings, we believe the company has the broadest array to meet the demands of every partner that we serve in the GCC,” he said.

Hussain added that partners who combine products and services have a better chance of earning higher recurring margins.

According to Hussain, the networking, security, managed services, storage all present business prospects for savvy partners to explore. “Add this with opportunities in government, education, healthcare, SMB and SOHO, partners serving any or a combination of these verticals stand a chance to earn decent margins if they can combine their product offerings with services,” he said.