Analysis: 'Don't call us a reseller'

'MSP' and 'solution provider' the two preferred terms for top 100 firms in our sector

In September, one of the leading firms in our market published a blog about the "death" of the term ‘VAR', saying they had banned it from their office.

They are not alone in believing the terminology we and others use to describe the ecosystem of companies that sell, service and support third-party IT hardware and software is becoming outmoded.

Many resellers are developing their own IP, or are moving deeper into services and cloud, and consequently see the vendor badges they carry as becoming less important.

There are others - Softcat, for example - which continue to embrace the term.

Some may point out that most firms in this report - no matter how they brand themselves - draw the majority of their revenue and even gross profit from reselling third-party hardware, software and services.

Nevertheless, how our readership refer to themselves, and how this is changing, provides a snapshot of where the IT channel is moving.

In light of this debate, this year we have looked at how the 100 firms in this research refer to themselves. We have taken the most succinct description each firm uses in its company literature, be that in its annual accounts, its Google search page summary, or on its website.

Ten of the 100 - SHI, Phoenix Software, Jigsaw24, Storm Technologies, CAE, Millgate, Grey Matter, Printerland, Midshire Business Systems and Probrand - employ the term ‘VAR' or ‘reseller'.

But two other terms - managed services provider (MSP) and solution provider - are more in vogue.

Some 18 firms - Logicalis, Alternative Networks, Maintel, Apogee, Redcentric, Avanade, K3, Annodata, Timico, Coretx, GCI, Cisilion, CSI, Esteem, SecureData, The IT Lab, Adept Telecom and Olive Communications - described themselves as some flavour of MSP. Many of these firms come from a networking or comms background.

Meanwhile, some 24 use ‘solution provider', or at least ‘solution', in their description of what they do. This includes many larger players, including Capita IT Enterprise Services, SCC, CDW, Insight, XMA, Logicalis, Danwood and Chess.

Nine firms brand themselves as either integrators, systems integrators or network integrators, seven describe themselves as IT suppliers, or variations on that theme and another seven see themselves as cloud enablers or cloud providers of some sort. Just four, Apple partner Stormfront, SAP consultancy Edenhouse, Microsoft Dynamics specialist eBECS, and Oracle ‘technology brand' Red Stack Technology, define themselves in terms of their relationship with a key vendor.