The Channel
Vendors, distributors and MSPs: partner programs, strategy and the people behind them.
The reseller’s job description changed on Ingram Micro’s earnings call
Speaking on Ingram Micro’s second-quarter call, Paul Bay said vendors are moving to distribution-led sales motions. That leaves UK partners one of two jobs, demand engine or fulfillment address, and the EMEA margin says what the middle is worth
The founder who stays is what private equity is really buying
Providence has bought into SCG and founder Paul Bradford is moving to president rather than the exit. He keeps the title and the relationships, but an investment committee holds the calendar and the lender that stayed sets the pace
Evergreen’s Pine Services Group buys Sage partner Datel
A US buy-and-hold group takes over a Warrington Sage reseller with a 45-year history, as its founder steps aside and Stuart Morland becomes chief executive
Flotek’s 16th deal tests the IT-plus-comms roll-up for SMBs
Flotek Group has bought Essex provider Clear Telecom, its 16th acquisition since 2022. Its newly filed accounts show how the model makes money, and where it could strain
Claranet buys rival MSP Six Degrees through an administrators’ sale
Two London managed service providers with falling UK revenues become one, in a deal completed through the administration of a Six Degrees group company
Small firms are paying resellers more, and the memory squeeze will test it
Prices in the specialist reseller channel serving small businesses are rising more than twice as fast as retail prices, says CONTEXT. But its own memory price warnings mean resellers should treat that as a test
Assurix’s first certified MSP shows where due diligence is heading
Assurix has certified its first UK MSP against a mark checked continuously, not once a year. But the badge will only pay partners who turn it into contract terms customers can enforce
Vendor satisfaction among UK and Irish MSPs halves as AI prompts rethink
GTIA’s latest channel study finds providers in the UK and Ireland reassessing long-standing supplier ties. New AI vendors are the temptation, and partner programs look out of date
Your.Cloud buys Cloud Geeni in what it calls its fourth UK deal
The European buy-and-build group has now announced two UK acquisitions in a week, keeping local brands and teams in place as it builds what it calls its UK platform
Partnership Education shows employee-owned IT firms can still sell
Redsquid has bought Partnership Education after its employee owners voted for the deal. But a trust need not be the final exit, and acquirers now have a new pool of targets
Memory shortage moves price risk down the channel to smaller resellers
Vendors are cutting quote windows and reserving the right to reprice after an order. Softcat expects its size to win it priority with suppliers, but smaller UK partners need to rewrite their customer terms now
Microsoft licensing errors are quietly costing UK businesses thousands
Jay Ball, chief executive of Flotek Group, explains how common Microsoft licensing mistakes quietly drain IT budgets, and why most businesses never spot them