McAfee revisits Bell

Distributor given second chance by security behemoth

Henry: we are going to invite Bell to respond

McAfee will re-open dialogue with recently axed partner Bell Micro as part of an upcoming distribution review.

As revealed by CRN, the security giant will send out call-of-tender letters to seven UK distributors in January with the aim of reducing its current four-strong line-up.

On top of incumbents Ingram Micro, Computer 2000, Sphinx and Arc, McAfee will consider responses from three additional distributors from which it has received unsolicited propositions.

This includes Bell, which McAfee axed in July. Jill Henry, UK and Ireland channel director at McAfee, said: “We are going to invite Bell to respond even though we terminated our agreement with it. It was before my arrival and it is good to keep an open mind.”

DNS Arrow is believed to be one of the two other distributors in the frame.

Sphinx joined McAfee’s distribution line-up as a result of its 2008 acquisition of Secure Computing. Chief executive Mark Hatton said: “Most of our vendors have gone through this process. As McAfee has made so many acquisitions, and consequently inherited so many distributors, it makes sense for it to review its routes to market.”