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Computer resellers were once just the middleman between computer manufacturers and customers.
Now they've become a more important part of the computer food chain as manufacturers reduce their role in sales and services.
Enter resellers such as Wixom's National Computer Resources Inc. and Bloomfield Hills-based Bloomfield Computer Systems Inc., which are expected to pick up the roles once handled by major computer-makers.
Jeffrey Morgan, NCRI's president, said the key is to focus on value-added services that complement the product.
"The complete offering of the services that we present is the ace in the hole," Morgan said.
Computer manufacturers leading the way in certifying resellers include Hewlett-Packard Co., Digital Computer Corp. and IBM Corp.
A computer reseller in today's market is a relationship builder. Resellers such as NCRI have to for partnerships with the top computer manufacturers and maintain relationships with customers well beyond closing the sale.
Freedom Business Machines Inc., based in Ann Arbor, has been doing business with NCRI for three years. Bob Wolff, Freedom's president, said NCRI supplies computer hardware and servers to his company, which provides medical labs with computer systems for scanning and storing images on CD-ROM.
Wolff said his company uses NCRI as its main supplier of computer equipment because NCRI offers local service, as well as prices...