Hyporium will put Hyperchannel, its trading hub for vendors,
distributors and resellers, online this week.
In a direct challenge to distributors now establishing
e-commerce sites, Hyperchannel, which already has 700 VARs
signed up, will be launched in 10 European countries.
The system will offer VARs a chance to check stock,
compare latest pricing, source product ranges and spread
credit.
In addition, for 12 months, VARs signed up before 31 March
will be able to freely offer their own ecommerce site by
branding the front end of the Hyperchannel system. After the
year, VARs will have to pay a £200 monthly fee.
Hyperchannel already has six manufacturer product
catalogues, including 3Com, IBM and Compaq, hooked into
the system, along with information from five distributors
including Logitek and Computacenter.
Hyporium expects to
have more than $10 billion (£6.3 billion) worth of IT stock
moving through the hub within the next two years.
Chris Matthews, technical director at VAR Summit Computer
Services, said: “If it saves us the hassle of ringing around for
products, then it has to be a good idea. You can spend a
whole afternoon chasing one component, so this will save a
lot of time.”