Pleiades
Illuminating the Dynamic IT Landscape for Resellers

The growth in overall online sales has created great opportunities for IT resellers. However, due to the IT industry’s dynamic nature, resellers need to update their product catalogue regularly to avoid redundancy; they also need to stay updated with the latest technology and newest products in the market on a regular basis. While this task of constant learning is overwhelming, it is surely of utmost importance, as even the slightest negligence can be detrimental to businesses. Founded in 2004, Pleiades, an IT consulting firm, is on a mission to provide guidance and value to these IT resellers, empowering them to form strategic partnerships with suppliers and offer their customers a wide range of products.

Pleiades, one of the brightest constellations in the night sky, was used by navigators throughout much of human history. To honour its role in guiding sailors, the company was named Pleiades. “We are committed to researching and learning about new technology such that resellers can best advise their customers,” explains Guillermo Aós, director of Pleiades. This way, the company acts as a bridge between the ever-changing IT field and the resellers that are directly applying this knowledge to their businesses. And, through its collaborative relationships with multiple global IT companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprises, HP, Microsoft, VMWare, Intel, and KVM, Pleiades prepares resellers to select the best applications for their customers’ needs.

Due to the existence of a significant number of technologieswithinthe IT arena, mastering all of them is not feasible. For this reason, Pleiades decided to focus its area of expertise on the IT infrastructure layer early on in their journey. And, while this limitation defies conventional wisdom, it has enabled Pleiades to build a tremendous amount of trust with clients, therebyallowing them to achieve the best possible results. While most of the consulting services only cover the technical aspects of any IT solution, Pleiades also helps with specialized sales, presales, and training functions. The company’s team of subject matter experts enables sales teams to improve turnover results, margins, loyalty, and customer satisfaction. Concerning presales, Pleiades can help prepare presentations according to different customer profiles and perform demos or develop a proof of concept for a proposed solution. Technical training is another essential service offered by the company, and the courses are available in Spanish, English, and Italian.

As a trusted advisor, Pleiades enables resellers to close deals effectively and establish a long-term relationship with their customers. To illustrate this further, Aós mentions a project that Pleiades was recently involved with. A client was interested in validating whether the software that they were developing was optimized for the latest IT infrastructures such as hyper-converged infrastructure. Moreover, with thelaunch deadline fast approaching, the client was at a loss. Pleiades collaborated with the client, and upon acquiring the necessary know-how pertaining to the technical specifications of the solution, the companywas able to determine the most suitable infrastructure for the client.

Currently, Pleiades has been experiencing an increase in the demand for presales and training services from resellers. Consequently, the company has entered into partnerships with several IT resellers across Europe. Aós states that since Pleiades focuses on a niche area of technology that is not often a topic of focus in universities or commonly pursued as a career, becoming an expert in the space requires a significant amount of time and dedication. Nonetheless, for over 15 years, Pleiades’ passion and enthusiasm for technology haveallowedthe company to share that knowledge and provide value to clients. “Our goal is to help our customers achieve their goals with their customers,” concludes Aós.