Trustmarque cuts distributors for main lines

Purchasing power: Scott Haddow

Software licensing VAR Trustmarque has cut the number of distributors it works with for 14 of its main vendor lines worth a combined £30m annually.

Some 14 distributors bid for the business but only 10 were selected following a three-month tender process that finished last week.

Vendors covered by the tender include Citrix, Novell VMWare, McAfee, Adobe and Websense. Magirus picked up the VMware piece, Interactive Ideas bagged Novell, Arc Technology the McAfee business and e92plus the Websense segment. Other distributors to make the cut include Bell and Computer 2000.

Earlier in the year Trustmarque consolidated all its smaller vendor lines down to one supplier – Sigma.

Trustmarque’s operations director Mark Godliman, told CRN that this marks "phase two" of the strategy.

“This was not just a cost-focused exercise,” he said. “It is about getting the right support and ensuring that partners are adding value in our transition from LAR to VAR.”

Trustmarque chief executive Scott Haddow added that the move would allow the firm to "use our purchasing power in a better way".

The new supplier relationships kicked off on 1 December and may run for nine or 10 months, or possibly beyond.

“It was a completely level playing field,” explained Godliman. “We weren’t concerned with how many years they had worked with us, more their desire to do a good job for our customers and their appetite to work with Trustmarque.

“We have set expectations that we will keep reviewing their performance but at some point we will do a wholesale review to ensure they are competitive.”