The traditional distribution system of the PC industry is an indirect model often referred to as “the channel”. The PC maker sells its products to distributors, who buy products from many manufacturers and then sell them to a variety of retailers, resellers, system integrators, and others, who sell products and services to the final customer. This distribution system was an effective means for distributing high volumes of PCs with a variety of configurations to reach a broad customer base. However, it had inherent weaknesses that left it vulnerable in a time-based competitive environment.