Reseller sent to the Gulag

CRN news editor Doug Woodburn on the dangers of speaking out

From the outspoken Ryanair pilot who was recently ‘sent to Siberia' to the Lord Young scandal, it seems that we are living in a corporate world increasingly opposed to free speech.

A conversation with a reseller today reminded me that, in these PR-driven times, channel firms are often under a similar pressure from vendors to keep a lid on their thoughts.

The VAR in question had been quoted in the media outlining a major investment he had made in a key vendor. Unfortunately, an arch-rival had seen the coverage and was apparently furious.

Rather than taking a few deep breaths and taking it in its stride, the angry manufacturer attempted to boot the reseller in question off its partner programme by raising its sales targets.

The actions of this vendor strike me as comparable to those of Michael O'Leary. It turns out that the pilot who quipped back in September that the Ryanair boss' role should be filled by a junior air steward has resigned after he was transferred from Provence to Lithuania, an act that appears more than just a coincidence, if you read the full story.

In both cases, neither could stand to be shown in a bad light.