How Can MSPs Compete with OEM Direct Sales Without Slashing Margins?

For many managed service providers (MSPs), IT dealers, and resellers, competing with OEM direct sales teams can feel like an uphill battle.

Manufacturers have scale, brand recognition, marketing budgets, and increasingly aggressive direct-to-customer strategies. It’s not uncommon for partners to feel like they are competing against the very companies whose products they sell.

The instinctive response is often the most dangerous one: lowering prices to win the deal.

But competing on price alone is a race to the bottom—and it erodes profitability, reduces service quality, and ultimately weakens the reseller’s value.

The good news is that successful partners are proving that you don’t have to cut margins to compete with OEM direct sales. Instead, the winning strategy is built on differentiation, bundled services, and strategic product positioning.

For MSPs and IT dealers, the opportunity lies in transforming hardware sales from transactional purchases into complete solutions that customers cannot get directly from a manufacturer.

Let’s explore how.

Why OEM Direct Sales Are Growing

Before discussing strategies, it helps to understand why OEM direct sales have expanded in recent years.

Manufacturers increasingly sell directly because it allows them to:

• Capture higher margins

• Control the customer relationship

• Sell subscription software and services

• Expand market share quickly

From the OEM perspective, it’s a logical move. But for MSPs and resellers, it introduces new competitive pressure.

What OEMs often lack, however, is local expertise, integrated service, and long-term customer support.

And that’s where the channel still wins.

The Real Advantage Resellers Still Have

While OEMs can ship hardware quickly, they rarely provide the level of hands-on IT strategy and operational understanding that MSPs and IT dealers deliver.

Your value is not simply in the product.

It’s in:

• Implementation

• Configuration

• Integration with existing infrastructure

• Support and lifecycle management

• Vendor consolidation for the customer

Customers increasingly want simplicity, not more vendor relationships.

That’s why many organizations still prefer working with a trusted reseller or MSP who can bring multiple technologies together into a cohesive solution.

Competing Without Cutting Margins

Instead of lowering prices, successful partners focus on expanding the solution around the hardware.

Here are five strategies that consistently work.

1. Sell Solutions, Not Individual Devices

OEM direct sales often focus on a single product category.

An MSP, however, can deliver a complete environment.

For example, instead of simply selling a printer, consider packaging:

• Printer hardware

• Print management software

• Secure document workflows

• Compatible supplies

• Lifecycle support

A device becomes far more valuable when it’s part of a broader operational solution.

This is where distributors like Image Star help partners build those packages by combining hardware, peripherals, and complementary technologies into ready-to-deploy solutions.

2. Build Hardware Ecosystems

Customers don’t buy technology in isolation. They buy ecosystems.

For example, a modern workplace deployment might include:

• Business laptops

• Monitors and peripherals

• Collaboration hardware

• Print infrastructure

• Document management solutions

When MSPs bundle these technologies together, they create something OEM direct teams struggle to replicate: a unified deployment strategy.

Hardware diversification plays a major role here.

Partners who can offer devices across multiple categories—such as business laptops, peripherals, and printers—become significantly more valuable advisors to their customers.

3. Focus on Deployment and Integration

Hardware alone rarely solves a problem.

Deployment does.

Customers often struggle with:

• Device provisioning

• Network configuration

• Driver installation

• Security policies

• Remote management

These are areas where MSPs provide enormous value.

For example, deploying a fleet of printers is not simply about installing devices—it involves network setup, driver configuration, fleet monitoring, and user accessibility.

Devices like the Capsul MB3300 and MB4000 printers are designed with channel partners in mind, allowing dealers and MSPs to implement streamlined installations while maintaining control of the customer relationship.

This deployment expertise is something OEM direct sales cannot easily replace.

4. Deliver Better Support Than OEMs

One of the biggest complaints customers have about buying directly from manufacturers is support complexity.

Customers often encounter:

• Long response times

• Outsourced support centers

• Multiple service tiers

• Limited customization

MSPs and IT dealers can differentiate themselves by offering personalized support experiences.

For example:

• Dedicated account management

• On-site service capabilities

• Faster response times

• Integrated support across multiple vendors

When customers know they can call one trusted partner instead of multiple vendors, they often prioritize that relationship over minor price differences.

5. Expand High-Margin Add-Ons

Another key advantage resellers have is the ability to bundle high-margin complementary products that OEM direct sales rarely emphasize.

Examples include:

• Keyboards and mice

• Docking stations

• Monitors

• Collaboration hardware

• Compatible supplies

Peripherals and accessories often carry stronger margins than core devices, and they improve the overall customer experience.

Products like Capsul keyboards, mice, and peripherals allow partners to round out workstation deployments while maintaining strong profitability.

These small additions can significantly increase deal value without requiring deeper discounts on core hardware.

The Power of Vendor Partnerships

Another major differentiator for resellers is access to distribution partners that support the channel.

Unlike OEM direct sales teams, distributors operate with the goal of helping partners succeed, not competing against them.

This means providing:

• Competitive pricing structures

• Channel-focused product lines

• Technical support

• Training and education

• Marketing resources

Image Star’s approach is built around helping MSPs, IT dealers, and resellers expand their portfolios while maintaining strong margins and customer relationships.

By combining multiple product categories—from printers to peripherals to computing solutions—partners can create complete IT environments that customers cannot easily replicate through OEM direct channels.

Winning the Relationship, Not Just the Deal

In the end, the most successful MSPs are not competing on price.

They’re competing on relationship and expertise.

Customers value partners who understand their environment, anticipate challenges, and provide ongoing support.

When you position yourself as a trusted advisor rather than a product reseller, the conversation shifts from:

“Who has the lowest price?”

to

“Who can best support our business?”

That distinction is what allows MSPs and IT dealers to compete successfully against OEM direct sales.

The Future of the Channel

The channel is not disappearing—it’s evolving.

Customers today want:

• Simplified technology ecosystems

• Fewer vendor relationships

• Faster deployment

• Better support

• Strategic guidance

These are exactly the areas where MSPs and IT dealers excel.

By focusing on integrated solutions, diversified hardware offerings, and long-term customer relationships, partners can compete with OEM direct sales without sacrificing profitability.

In fact, many partners find that these strategies not only protect margins—but actually increase them.

And in a market where technology continues to expand across every aspect of the workplace, the MSP’s role as a technology integrator has never been more valuable.

Want to learn more, reach out to your dedicated Image Star Account Executive!