By Russ Dickinson, Marketing Manager at ZONES UK
I am sure I speak for all global supply chain professionals when I say that challenges multiply with each day passing. Like everyone else, I see disruptive events such as natural disasters, security breaches, technology failures, political unrest and economic instability in the news 24/7, and these events are greatly affecting today’s global supply chains. However, the positive benefits that a global supply chain can bring far outweigh any potential disadvantages. This is exactly what we have done here at Zones UK, working with some of the world’s most recognised brands in Nike, Yahoo, Red Bull, innocent, Walkers and Starbucks to name a few!
For many years, several factors have changed the IT world such as globalisation, competition and digitalisation, add the customer in the mix and this then gives us very little room for error. For both existing and new customers the expectations are higher than ever with more buying power than ever before so as you can imagine we will really have to be on top of our game at all time.
This really is where Zones UK comes into their own, in 2011 Zones Inc. acquired a controlling stake in AK-IT Solutions (UK) Ltd which was then rebranded Zones UK and seen as the European hub of Zones Inc. Before then AK-IT solutions Ltd was an established UK based ICT reseller with over 300 clients and 18 years trading history. The Zones global reach now spans more than 180 countries with our corporate offices, distribution facilities, IT partners, and service affiliates supporting multinational organisations. Our global capabilities are made possible by our company-owned offices in the United States, Canada, India, and Australia as well as throughout Europe. Building on an already solid foundation of service excellence, the global team conducts transactions in more than 20 currencies, and our in-country teams are fluent in the languages of their regions.
Our aim is simple – to simplify IT. With our global strategy it allows us to provide measurable values such as quantifiable cost-saving opportunities helping clients leverage their current IT spend around the globe through vendor consolidation and improved manufacturer pricing. Consultations and strategy planning, our teams throughout the world are readily available to discuss and manage any project, and finally local support and efficient deployment of technology, helping you drive global IT initiatives.
We pride ourselves on being a unique offering in the industry and an invaluable resource that functions as a dedicated extension of an IT organization. The Global Team collaborate with the relevant client stakeholders to identify how we can alleviate the challenges around the global distribution of IT products and solutions and IT lifecycle management. Regardless of the Zones office or partner, the client always has a primary point of contact at here for all planning, pre-sales, post sales involvement.
Unlike a customary export strategy, the zones network of corporate offices and well-credentialed strategic partners provide in-country services and support. We manage partner relationships to bring together our solutions architects, engineers, technicians and any other IT professionals the project requires.
With regards to our partners, they are each IT solution providers in their particular locales and have an IT and customer-service focus similar to that of Zones. We hold contractual and service-level agreements with these partners, and we maintain close, ongoing business relationships together. The relationships with our partners are thriving and we continue to develop partnerships in new locations around the world.
Being an authorised tier-one hardware and software solutions partner with leading IT manufacturers such as IBM, HP, Lenovo, Apple, Cisco, Dell, EMC, Microsoft, Adobe, Oracle, Symantec and VMware. In all, the Zones portfolio represents more than 2,000 suppliers in the support of our clients’ unique IT infrastructure and business model.
Having been a sub £10m company only a few years ago to closing 2014 at £30m, I am sure you will agree that we here at Zones UK are confident that 2015 and beyond will only continue to bring us more success. Like I said earlier, our aim is simple – to simplify IT!