WatchGuard signs with OpenPSL in UTM drive

Appliance vendor signs distribution deal to source new business in UK market

Bullish Unified Threat Management (UTM) vendor WatchGuard has appointed OpenPSL as its fourth distributor in the UK to help it ramp up market share.

OpenPSL is part of the Bell Microproductsgroup of companies which is due to rebrand under one global name in January (CRN, 27 November). Under its latest partnership, OpenPSL will work closely with WatchGuard to create new business opportunities and win new customers in the UK, the firm said.

The distributor will carry all WatchGuard’s products, but will initially be looking to gain traction with the latest Firebox Edge UTM appliance, which was launched by the vendor last week.

Speaking to CRN, Nick Banks, EMEA sales director at WatchGuard, which was bought by private equity group Francisco partners earlier this year (CRN, 31 July), said the firm had carried out due diligence on the market to avoid impacting its other three UK distributors: Wick Hill, Ingram Micro and Northamber.

“OpenPSL has a dedicated product management team and it can offer great channel support,” Banks said. “It also has a finite number of vendors that allow it to get in-depth knowledge of each product set.

“We don’t see ourselves as over-distributed in the UK. We will work with OpenPSL to create a new market and work with VARs that don’t currently sell WatchGuard products, particularly in the north of the UK.”

Banks added that the distributor’s European presence opens up the chance to extend the partnership to a pan-European basis.

Duncan Hume, security division product manager at OpenPSL, said: “WatchGuard is a known brand name and one that our resellers are aware of, and it is keen to address the resellers that deal with OpenPSL.

“We have already sold a few WatchGuard products and completed some installs so we are feeling confident about the partnership.”

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