Kaspersky clears up Arrow ECS rumours

Trim: We want to maintain our relationship with Arrow ECS

Anti-virus vendor Kaspersky Lab has confirmed that Arrow ECS will remain on board as a UK distributor, despite opting to engage more closely with Arc Technology and Wick Hill.

Rumours first surfaced that the pair were parting company last September, less than a year after joining forces.

Bill Trim, corporate sales director at Kaspersky, said the chit-chat was wide of the mark but admitted Kaspersky has decided to lavish more resource on Arc and Wick Hill in 2010, as a result of their higher investment.

“We are engaging even more closely with two of our distributors this year,” he said.
“We want to maintain our relationship with Arrow ECS as it can potentially open up different opportunities for us as our road map develops.”

Arrow ECS carries a broader range of products than Wick Hill and Arc and Chris Smith, head of regional channel sales for UK and Ireland at Kaspersky, said it was a “two-way street”.

“The nature of Arrow ECS is that it does carry a much wider portfolio and we are very much more important to Arc and Wick Hill," he said.

Trim said Kaspersky had set itself an ambitious 2010 target of topping the 30 per cent growth it achieved in the UK and Ireland last year, and had developed aggressive business plans with both Wick Hill and Arc.

James Pattinson, security director at Arrow ECS, suggested the distributor could play more of a role for Kaspersky in the future.

"At the moment its portfolio addresses SME and we are much more of an enterprise distributor," he said. "We will follow Kaspersky closely as its enterprise strategy and security offering in the virtualisation space unfolds."

Ian Kilpatrick, chairman of Wick Hill, said: “We have a very high commitment to and from Kaspersky and have strong growth targets together."