Blue bucks the Trend in broadline strategy shift

Security vendor Trend Micro is rekindling ties with broadline distributors, less than 18 months after calling time on its partnership with Computer 2000 (C2000).

The Tokyo-based vendor, which currently works with Computerlinks, Sphinx and e92plus, has signed broadliner Blue Solutions to help it reach its goal of recruiting 1,000 more SME resellers in the next 12 months.

Trend is also in talks with another broadliner, believed to be either Ingram Micro or Northamber.

Tony Larks, northern European marketing manager at Trend, said the time was right to embrace a mass-market model after ending its last broadline venture with C2000 at the end of 2005.

“The difference now is that we have a team dedicated to this tier of distribution and small businesses, whereas before we just used our enterprise resources,” Larks said.

“Blue Solutions has a good run-rate business with Microsoft’s Small Business Server. Our Worry Free Security solutions fit well with that. We want partners that are not content with their current vendor or that don’t sell content security and want something that is easy to sell and attach.”

Matthew Stokes, product manager at Blue Solutions, said: “We are focusing on Trend and trying to promote it as an alternative to CA and Symantec, which both seem to have taken their eye off the ball in the SME channel.”

Dave Ellis, director of e-security at Computerlinks, said he was unconcerned by the appointment because Blue Solutions was only carrying a subset of Trend’s portfolio.

“Trend has engineered a proper SME product when other vendors are trying to sell enterprise products in the SME,” he said.

However, the strategy was met with unease from some of Trend’s existing resellers.

Chris Durnan, chief executive of security VAR Peapod, said: “This strategy is forcing us into the mid-market. Why would we want to stay in the sub-250 space with that many resellers and broadline distributors on board?”

Trend wants UK VARs