EEL set to swim in new waters by September

Seeks expansion through vendor agreements.

Ericsson's spun-off direct sales arm, Enterprise Solutions, is looking to expand by setting up agreements with new vendors.

The system integrator will also re-brand in September, after the sale of an 80 per cent share to financier Apax Partners for £327m.

The restructure will see David McKeigue replace Jonathan Smith as managing director of the UK arm, known as Ericsson Enterprise Ltd (EEL), with Smith becoming president of global markets at Enterprise Solutions.

Manny Pinon, sales and marketing manager at distributor Norwood Adam, said if the company is to compete in the high-end systems integrator space, it needed to make a break from its Ericsson-dominated product portfolio.

"EEL is an integrator looking to compete with companies such as IBM Global Services. If it wants to succeed it needs to expand its vendor portfolio," he said.

According to the company, EEL will rebrand in September, as part of its bid to become a leading global systems integrator of voice, data and mobility products.

Pinon said: "It's about time they did something with the name because it has led to confusion within the channel and for end-users."

McKeigue will move from his role of general manager EMEA at Alcatel's Carrier Internetworking Division.