NSW-based communications distributor, VExpress, has been beefing up its product portfolio and headcount to strengthen its SME and corporate market attack.

In recent months the company has appointed its first dedicated channel manager in Queensland. Late last year it also brought on a second channel manager to service partners in the Victorian, WA, SA and Tasmanian markets. It is also recuiting staff in operations and sales.

National sales manager, Karl Batchelar, said the appointments were made to support the ongoing diversification of VExpress' business into broader communication offerings.

The distributor solely focuses on Alcatel/Lucent communication systems but has been steadily widening its products portfolio with a range of third-party solutions. Batchelar said the transition to IP-based communications was opening up new opportunities for VExpress in both the SME space as well as higher up the chain.

"With our move into more data and services, we need to look at the people we need on the team and increasing our knowledge across these products," he said.

In May, VExpress signed as a distributor for networking vendor, NetComm, and is also delivering phone applications from UK-based ISV and Alcatel partner, Amigo Software.

Batchelar said it had been approached by Alcatel to provide Amigo applications as a way of customising phone systems. The NetComm deal, meanwhile, was a way to complement its Alcatel range with networking hardware for SMEs up into the enterprise.

VExpress is also in the process of launching unified messaging tools from new vendor partner, CPS Technology, to its channel base.

Batchelar, who has been with VExpress for nearly a year, took over from sales manager, Grant Morrison, who is now concentrating on growing its products and services support at the higher-end enterprise market.

Batchelar's focus over the next 12 months will be on lifting the skill set of the company's reseller base. VExpress now works with about 200 resellers.

"The sales are out there - it's finding the resources to complete them," he said. "We recognise there's a lack of skills in the market. We'll be putting more focus on training and upskilling the channel.

"Traditionally, we have looked at technical skills to achieve mid- to upper-level expertise - we need to also now help in the sales area."