Fehlkalkulation des Serviceanteils im Hardware‑Geschäft

Definition

Industry data indicates that a traditional reseller with a mix of approximately 90% hardware and 10% services commonly achieves only about a 6% overall profit margin, while managed services providers can reasonably expect around 15% profit margin.[4] Margin‑management best practice for VARs emphasizes diversification into managed services and value‑added offerings to escape razor‑thin hardware margins.[1][4] When wholesalers and VARs lack granular profitability analytics at product, customer, and deal level, they often continue to chase high‑volume, low‑margin hardware business while neglecting to systematically attach higher‑margin services such as installation, support, or managed services contracts. Over time, this strategic misallocation of sales effort represents a measurable opportunity cost: maintaining a 6% margin when the business model and customer base could support a blended margin closer to 9–11% by increasing the services share.

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Australian 🇦🇺 wholesale IT and VAR businesses lose 3–5 percentage points of attainable profit margin by focusing on low‑margin resale instead of attaching higher‑margin services. Analytics and attach‑rate automation can shift mix and recover hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Affected Stakeholders

Executive management, CFO/Finance director, Sales leadership, Product and services managers, Channel managers

Related Business Risks