Going Global: The Channel’s Expanding Horizons

… taxes and Safe Harbor laws or the requirement to have local staff.

“These are questions that must be asked,” said one consultant. “You have to understand local culture and how to work with them. Never assume anything.”

NetEnrich’s Joseph said this highlights just one benefit of using local partners, who can serve as a language bridge and cultural adviser, as well as handling advanced customer requirements or complicated problems. It may also help explain why survey respondents, when asked where they currently do business outside the United States, were heavily weighted to Europe (72 percent) and Canada (70 percent). A distant third was Australia, at 36 percent. These preferences carried over to the question of where companies intend to do business within the next 12 to 24 months. Canada topped that list at 59 percent, followed by Europe at 58 percent, Mexico at 40 percent and South America at 34 percent. Interestingly, Australia dropped to 21 percent.

Suppliers, masters and distributors looking to support partners’ efforts to go global have a variety of enablement options — some more within their control than others. While the most-cited resource provided by both distributors and suppliers was dedicated regional technical support infrastructure, name recognition in the region came in second, rated at 35 percent for distributors and 39 percent for suppliers.

For these most-popular resources, there was a correlation to size. That is, among respondents from smaller organizations, many said their supplier partners …