Connect Communications nabs SSP contract
Reseller lands one of only four SSP contracts in the UK through acquisition of Asptel
VAR Connect Communications has bagged itself one of just four Nortel Specialist Support Partner (SSP) contracts in the UK through its acquisition of rival Asptel.
SSPs provide services for Nortel resellers that lack the skills or manpower to carry out installation and maintenance work themselves.
Andy Thomas, chief executive of Connect, a Nortel Gold Solutions partner, said: “There are a limited number of SSPs in the UK and the accreditation will accelerate the growth of our indirect business, which is something that we were developing anyway.
“This will help us support our engineering base and give us the volume and critical mass to have a competitive business model.”
Asptel will be run as a separate unit that focuses solely on indirect services. Only three other UK firms hold the SSP status: Networks First, 3net and Phoenix IT Services.
Stuart Muirhead, business development director at Phoenix IT Services, said: “This is the age of resellers being bought or buying, so this is no surprise.”
Tony Bailey, vice-president of UK and Ireland channels at Nortel, said: “This acquisition brings together a strong solutions partner and a services partner, which will create more value for customers.”
Thomas expects to announce further acquisitions in 2007, although he said they are as likely to be Microsoft VARs as Nortel specialists, following the two vendors’ recent strategic alliance around unified communications (CRN, 26 July).
“A lot of Nortel resellers are deciding what the next step in their evolution should be and how to embrace the change in Nortel’s strategy,” he said. “There will be a coming together of the two channels.”
Bailey added that Nortel was in the process of devising a scheme to reward partners with both Microsoft and Nortel skills.