CIE Components in Electronics
Microlease, the test and measurement equipment management company, has announced that it has been selected as an Authorised Distributor in the UK by Keysight Technologies. Microlease is investing over £1m in staff, premises, stock and e-commerce capabilities to support the expanded capabilities.
Under the agreement, Microlease will now support and sell the full Keysight product range from handheld instruments to the top of the range bench instruments. This includes Keysight generators, sources, power supplies, RF test equipment and other instruments. Microlease will also offer Keysight thermal imaging instruments for the first time.
To support the agreement, Microlease has made a significant investment in its Field Sales and Application Engineering team, in stock and in an e-commerce capability to allow customers to buy online. Three new Application Engineers have been added to the team, specifically to work with Keysight customers. Microlease has also extended its state of the art Kardex warehouse in Harrow to store and manage the new stock. Instruments bought outright from the Microlease UK stock can be shipped the same day. Microlease is already a Keysight Premier Rental Partner for Europe and North America, an Authorised Distributor in the Americas and Italy, as well as the Authorised Technology Partner in the UK, Ireland, and Italy.
Commenting, Nigel Brown, CEO, Microlease, said, “Microlease’s commitment to a consultative approach was central to Keysight’s decision to expand their relationship with us. We believe passionately that our role is to guide each customer to the right instrument for them, and to make that instrument available to them based on the commercial model that best suits their needs. We have invested in the team to make that happen, and are supporting them with a stock profile and an e-commerce capability to make dealing with Microlease quick, simple and convenient.”
Alessandro Pino, regional indirect channel manager – EMEA at Keysight Technologies added, “Keysight offers a diverse, innovative range of test solutions. The channel partners we work with need to fully encompass this diverse offering and engage with customers to identify the best solution for their measurement challenge. Microlease has demonstrated it has an exceptionally strong customer facing team, great customer relationships and a very effective logistical operation. We are excited to work with them in this new capacity.”
From April 2015, Microlease will be offering customers the ability to purchase any product from Keysight’s ‘Basic Instruments’ range directly from www.microlease.com. To celebrate the launch of its new ecommerce web site, Microlease will be giving away a number of free digital multimeters to the first orders placed via its web site.
For higher value equipment, Microlease will offer four options in addition to outright purchase: rent, rent-to-buy, divide-by-12 and lease. Rent-to-buy (Easy Rent) allows companies to pay a fixed percentage of the list price per month to rent the equipment for at least six months, then return it, convert to a lease or purchase it outright at the end of the rental period. The divide-by option (Easy Buy) lets companies spread the costs of buying equipment over 12 months at 0% interest. Microlease also offers finance leases, operating leases and operating leases with services. These enable companies to only pay for the equipment while they need it, have no upfront costs and have the flexibility to upgrade the equipment in the future.
In addition, Microlease offers its customers an asset management service for test equipment, which includes compiling an inventory, taking responsibility for scheduled maintenance and calibration, and even disposing of surplus equipment.
Microlease has been presented with the highly prestigious Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year award for Best Practise in Global Test and Measurement Rental and Leasing Services two years in a row, for 2013 and 2014.
