Channel catch-up: News in brief

Flotek Group

The channel player has sealed a move for Hampshire-based FlexiNet to expand its ability to provide South England with managed IT, cyber security and communications services. As part of the acquisition, FlexiNet will rebrand as part of Flotek Group, with the team continuing to operate from its Andover office.

This is the fifteenth deal struck by Flotek since it emerged in 2022, as the firm builds up its market presence. The two businesses are no strangers, with Flotek group investing in Flexinet back in 2023.

“FlexiNet has built a strong reputation in Hampshire by being responsive, reliable and close to its partners. Bringing the business fully into Flotek is about building a tighter relationship and expanding what those partners can access through one team,” said Jay Ball, CEO of Flotek Group. 

“As a managed service provider [MSP], our goal is simple: make technology easier to run, safer to rely on and better aligned to how people actually work. This acquisition helps us do that at a bigger scale across the South of England, including London.”

Infinigate UK & Ireland

The distributor has started working with OpenOrigins, which provides the technology to help spot deepfakes and AI-generated content. With increasing problems surrounding deepfakes, the technology should appeal to corporate customers looking to tighten up defences on the fraud and brand protection fronts.

Justin Griffiths, regional vice-president of Infinigate UK&I, stated: “OpenOrigins brings a smart and dependable way to protect data integrity at a time when authenticity is becoming a board-level concern. Together, we’ll help our partners take a provenance-led approach to trusted media – backed by the enablement, technical support and route-to-market services they expect from Infinigate – while unlocking new growth opportunities.”

TD Synnex

The distributor has introduced a dedicated software store for Sophos to make it easier for partners to monitor licenses upgrade opportunities and renewals via the dashboard.

“It’s a valuable tool that partners can use to maximise renewals, drive incremental sales and deliver higher levels of customer satisfaction,” said Simon Bennett, managing director of advanced solutions for UK and Ireland at TD Synnex. “With the software store, Sophos partners need never miss out on an opportunity to retain and get closer to their end-user customers. It’s particularly beneficial for partners who serve the commercial and mid-market, many of whom don’t have the resources to keep a constant check on upcoming renewals

Westcon-Comstor

The distributor has expanded its partnership with security player Proofpoint after being given the right to offer the firm’s professional services to European partners.

“Gaining authorisation to deliver Proofpoint professional services opens up exciting new possibilities for Westcon and our partners”, said Martin Flensburg, vice-president of services delivery and go-to-market for Europe at Westcon-Comstor. “Professional services represent a significant growth frontier for the channel thanks to the scalable nature of the model and the repeat revenues and high margins on offer. This agreement with Proofpoint highlights our leadership in this space and our commitment to creating new opportunities for our partners.”

GitLab

The DevSecOps platform player has launched an expanded MSP programme. The increase in support for the channel comes after the firm recently enabled general availability of its Duo Agent Platform, which gave MSPs the tools to help customers plan, develop, test, secure and deploy software.

“We’re seeing strong demand from enterprises that want to adopt agentic AI across the software lifecycle, capabilities like GitLab Duo Agent Platform, while maintaining strict control over their data and compliance posture,” said Alex Picker, vice-president of global ecosystems at GitLab. “Our enhanced programme addresses this challenge by enabling MSP partners to deliver GitLab’s intelligent orchestration platform within whatever hosting environment that helps them to meet their customers’ requirements.” 

Yubico

The cyber security player has cut the ribbon on YubiNation Partners, a global channel programme designed to bring together partner experts.

“With YubiNation Partners, Yubico is embracing a partner-first strategy, moving beyond traditional resale to build a dedicated community of security experts who are shaping the future of digital identity,” said Bettina Vahl, vice-president of global channels at Yubico. “This programme is built to turn our partners into true trusted advisers, giving them the innovation, speed and scale they need to help customers go passwordless and stay secure everywhere.”

Zenarmor

The secure access and network security (SASE) player has launched its global channel partner programme. The move formalises the approach the firm is taking to its partners. 

“For too long, SASE has been synonymous with centralised cloud inspection and vendor-controlled infrastructure,” said Murat Balaban, founder and CEO of Zenarmor. “We built Zenarmor differently. Our architecture was designed from day one to enforce security wherever users and applications operate, without forcing traffic through external PoPs or service chains. This new channel programme aligns our go-to-market with that architectural reality. It empowers partners to deliver the entire SASE stack as a distributed, high-performance service they control.”