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21 Jul 2009
SCH Distribution (SCHd) has continued on the acquisition path by snapping up IQ Sys, in a move it claims will give it a 60 per cent share of the UK Citrix market.
SCHd has made a concerted effort to bolster its solutions business in recent months, having recently signed a partnership with security and storage software giant Symantec.
Slough-based IQ Sys boasts a turnover of about £30m and works with about 150 resellers. As well as Citrix it boasts relationships with a range of niche vendors including AppSense, ThinPrint and Scriptlogic.
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Paul Eccleston, SCH Group director responsible for distribution, said the deal marks another stepping stone in the growth of SCHd's solutions business.
Speaking exclusively to CRN, he said: “This is not about getting out of volume distribution at all – in fact our plans are to grow that. But we are driving quickly forward with our solutions-based distribution business.”
IQ Sys was previously owned by venture capital-backed training firm QA-IQ Group, which Eccleston admitted “had probably not been driving IQ Sys forward as management would have liked”.
He stressed that SCHd would retain and build on the IQ Sys brand and that all 30 staff would keep their jobs.
IQ Sys managing director Sean Fane said in a statement: “Access to supportive infrastructure, within a financially stable group with a common vision, means IQ Sys can focus even more exclusively on value solution development around Citrix.”
The merger will reduce the number of UK Citrix distributors from four to three. Eccleston said IQ Sys would extend its specialist Citrix skills in areas such as applications acceleration and virtual desktops.
Kevin Bland, partner sales director UK and Ireland at Citrix, welcomed the deal.
“As SCHd already holds the rights to distribute Citrix, the purchase is a reflection of its continued support and investment in Citrix and is the result of a deliberate decision to extend its reach further into the channel and take IQ-Sys’ strength into its own extended base,” he said.
Almost exactly a year ago, SCH snapped up Sun and IBM distributor Interface and Eccleston revealed that further acquisitions are possible.
“We will always look at the right acquisitions to add to our strategy when they come along,” he said.
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