Redstone gets set to acquire

Reseller woos Microsoft partners

Redstone has emerged as the latest telecoms VAR to set its sights on Microsoft’s UK reseller base.

The acquisitive reseller has placed Microsoft Gold partners at the top of its shopping list.

Martin Balaam, chief executive of Redstone, said: “We’re already a Microsoft Gold partner, so this is about adding feet on the street and bandwidth rather than extra skills.”

Balaam said Redstone is “in discussions” with several resellers with at least £5m to £10m focusing on the Microsoft desktop and server realm.

“We’re also looking to move up the value chain in applications companies in the communications space. That would sit on top of all our units to allow us to do pull through and sell through,” Balaam added.

Tony Baily, vice president UK and Ireland channels at Nortel, said: “If you look at someone like Computacenter acquiring Allnet, that gave it really strong convergence skills with Nortel.”

Redstone joins channel big league