IBM partners form super merger
Big Blue channel sees further consolidation
The IBM channel saw more consolidation last week as four IBM resellers announced they are merging to create one of Big Blue’s largest UK partners, and the combined company is already looking for other collaborations.
Altis, NetInfo, Time Solutions and Elyzium formed the Portal Partnership two years ago, which saw the four resellers – with ISV Digital Union as an associate partner – create an affiliation to offer a broad base of IBM skills.
Altis and NetInfo have already formerly completed their merger, with Time and Elysium set to merge into them by the third quarter. The Portal Partnership will have a combined back-office and 180 employees, said David Brown, sales and marketing director at the VAR. “The four-way merger was a logical conclusion to the original partnership,” he said. “We have now got breadth, reach and a deep level of skill.”
Brown said the Portal Partnership has Tivoli, DB2, WebSphere and Lotus skills. “On the Rational side we do have some skills, but we are looking to draw alliances with a specialist Rational VAR,” he added. “There is the potential for a merger.
“I see no reason why we can’t expand across Europe – we are already dealing with quite a few European clients.”
Shaune Parsons, managing director at IBM VAR Computer World Wales, said: “It’s a tough market out there and it is dominated by a few big players. If you can become big enough to compete, then why not? The buying power of it will have an impact on VARs in this sector. IBM will want to do more business with the firm and it will be able to demand higher rebates.”
Kevin Drew, managing director of IBM VAR Triangle, said: “This will give Portal a wider services delivery base. A lot depends on its strategy, whether it has created a bigger VAR to simply compete with existing resellers or whether it sticks to the niches it has already created. I think it is unlikely the move will upset the channel too much.”