Channel catch-up: News in brief

Exertis Supplies

The channel player indicated that Andrew Beaumont has made the decision to step down from his role as managing director and will leave the business on 30 April.

Further details of who will step into the leading role at Exertis Supplies will be revealed in the next few weeks. Beaumont said it had been an honour to lead the business and would keep a keen eye on its future developments.

Rod McCarthy, group managing director, thanked the outgoing Beaumont for his service: “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Andrew for his dedication and leadership of the Supplies business and can assure the channel that we remain fully committed to supporting the independent dealer community as we move forward.” 

Softcat

The channel player has relocated to a larger London office as part of its growth strategy. The firm is moving to the St. Botolph Building, just a two-minute walk from the previous location at One Creechurch Lane. The new office is 22,000ft² larger and features focus rooms, standing desks, well-being and multifaith rooms, a quiet library area, a gaming area and an IT helpdesk.

“I believe this move is absolutely going to drive our success and collaboration with its enhanced space and technology. We have a high-performance culture that is built upon the foundations of a strong people-first culture, as we believe this drives the best out of our people. This new space, and the way in which we will use it, will allow us to make that experience even greater, not only for Softcat, but for our customers and vendors,” said Matt Brennan, sales and office manager for Softcat London.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK)

The vendor has recognised Isle of Man-based managed print solutions specialist Typhoon House as an Exclusive Partner.

Typhoon becomes the first Exclusive Partner on the island and its managing director Geoff McCann said it has an established relationship with the vendor that stretches back over many years.

“Customer demand for Konica Minolta products makes this the perfect time for Typhoon House to become an Exclusive Partner, benefiting us and our customers in terms of technical support, training, device and consumables availability and pricing,” he said.

Cameron Mitchell, business leader for indirect channel at Konica Minolta, said: “We are proud to award Typhoon House Exclusive Partner status. Their dedication to customers is reflected in an impressive near 100% customer retention rate, and our close partnership means Typhoon House is very much an extension of our brand and values.”

Fivetran

The data specialist has launched an enhanced partner programme that offers higher incentives and more got-to-market support and enablement.

The vendor is increasing the rewards and support for those that are able to deliver its platform and grow the customer base.

“Data centralisation remains one of the biggest challenges for enterprises today,” said Logan Welley, vice-president of alliances at Fivetran. “Our partners are critical to solving that – whether they’re helping businesses unify data across cloud platforms, modernise their infrastructure, or power artificial intelligence-driven decision-making. This expanded programme gives them the tools, incentives and support they need to grow their business while making data movement effortless for customers.”

SUSE

Sticking with the partner programme theme, the vendor has cut the ribbon on its Elevate offering for managed service providers (MSPs).

The programme has been specifically designed for MSPs that want to sell the firm’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) suite of enterprise container management open source software offerings via the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace.

“In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, MSPs need easy access to the right solutions that fit the unique business needs of each of their customers,” said Christine Puccio, global vice-president for AWS Cloud at SUSE. “Expanding our partner programme to further support MSPs in meeting these customer demands really underscores SUSE’s ongoing dedication to SaaS solutions for our customers, open source ecosystem and our collaboration with AWS.”

Centreon

The monitoring and observability player has shared an update that indicates it grew revenues by 23% in 2024 and improved software subscriptions by 34%, driven by an acceleration in new customer acquisitions.

Highlights included the launch of a partner programme as the firm looked to reach a wider market with its Centreon Cloud being made available on AWS Marketplace.

“2024 has been a pivotal year for Centreon. Our results reflect the growing adoption of our solutions by businesses of all sizes and our ability to address the complex technological challenges modern organisations face. We take pride in the progress achieved and are more determined than ever to maintain this growth trajectory,” said Julien Mathis, CEO and co-founder of Centreon.