What sort of resources does HP devote to tackling counterfeit products and channel awareness in the Middle East?
Every person within IPG that deals with partners, particularly for inks and toners, has information from me to help partners understand what they should do. We have the supplies partner portal with all the documents for resellers in various languages. Training opportunities are always important for me to run. I recently conducted a training event with wholesalers from the Middle East which took place in Athens. In that session I explained the programme, showed samples and took the time to explain the documents and detail what to look for. I also have close ties with HP’s people here and they will contact me. Do you think the channel cares enough about counterfeit products to proactively challenge the trade here? It depends. Culturally there is a difference between countries. We don’t want to force people to do something they don’t want to, but we want to give them the avenues if they want to act. I think, particularly now, when times are a bit tougher than they were a year ago, partner
