Websense drops Bell Micro

Bell deemed surplus to requirements as web filtering vendor looks to rationalise European line-up

Philpott: This is not something we dropped on Bell

Websense has jettisoned Bell Micro from its UK line-up as it pares back distribution numbers across Europe.

The web filtering vendor forged a partnership with Bell in 2007 around its SME portfolio, but will now move forward with just Computerlinks and e92plus.

The move is part of a wider pan-European drive by Websense to work with one pan-European outfit and one local specialist in each major European territory. The duo will cease working together on 6 March.

Maurizio Garavello, vice president of indirect sales EMEA and emerging markets at Websense, said the vendor was looking to throw more resource behind fewer partners - both at a reseller and distribution level.

“We have too many distributors in Europe,” he said.

“At this moment we are trying to consolidate this. It makes sense to develop our partnership with Computerlinks. We do not have anything against Bell but it would have caused too much disruption to scale the limited partnership we had with them around a subset of the UK market.”

Mukesh Gupta, managing director of e92plus, said: “This was driven by the demands of the market. Websense’s products need more focused security distributors behind them.”

Ed Callacher, divisional manager for networking and security at Bell, stressed that the decision was mutual once he had come to appreciate that Websense planned to focus on higher-level resellers.

"Websense's decision to focus on Platinum and Gold partners made our position almost untenable," he said.

Andy Philpott, vice president of sales for UK and Ireland at Websense, said: “Discussions with Bell had been ongoing for a while – this is not something we dropped on them. It had done a good job for us but we believe Computerlinks and e92plus give us what we require in the UK.”