Westcon-Comstor CEO on cloud marketplace strategy, 'chippageddon' and insolvency risks post-Covid
David Grant met with CPI to talk holding inventory, and why its latest partnerships with CrowdStrike and 8x8 should help dispel ‘anxiety’ that cloud marketplaces are sounding the death knell for distribution
New partnerships with CrowdStrike and 8x8 should "dispel any anxiety" about whether distributors like Westcon-Comstor can compete in the cloud market, according to its CEO David Grant
In a wide-ranging interview with our sister publication Channel Partner Insight, Grant said cloud-only signings with vendors show how Westcon-Comstor's own cloud business is growing.
"I don't think the growth of cloud marketplaces is something that's going to damage our business, providing we provide professional services around how the partner might deploy on-premise, or private and in the public cloud," he said.
"And what I would say about how attractive we might be to those cloud and emerging vendors. The fact that we've just announced the relationship with CrowdStrike, which is a completely cloud and software-based solution, if they didn't believe that we couldn't recruit, educate, try and develop partners and transact their solution, they wouldn't have signed that relationship with us.
"And in the next two or three months, I think we will be making more announcements of that type that will dispel any concerns or anxiety about whether or not we can compete in that market."
Grant was speaking in part in reference to a recent interview with Pax8 UK channel VP Phylip Morgan.
In an interview with CRN, the cloud marketplace regional boss called distribution "broken", adding "distributors should be scared of us."
Grant added that he is "keeping an eye" on Pax8, but was unruffled by the challenge.
"I know there's a lot of talk about solutions going to subscription-only and cloud. But the reality is, an awful lot of the vendors still have a device component in their solutions.
"So we're fortunate to have a business that is built around devices and subscription."
With annual sales of $2.6bn, Westcon-Comstor currently derives around 40 per cent of its top line from recurring revenues.
"So just because we have a business that has hardware doesn't mean that we're exposed by not having a business that's in software and cloud, as well.
The full interview, where Grant discusses chip shortages, his concerns for resellers as governments winds down Covid-related subsidies, and growth hotspots for the year ahead, can be viewed on Channel Partner Insighthere.