Consolidation delays McAfee distribution review

Avnet-Bell and Arrow-Sphinx deals prevent security vendor from concluding UK distributor rationalisation exercise

Jill Henry: There are a lot of moving parts we hadn't anticipated

McAfee has postponed the outcome of its UK distribution review after two of the distributors involved were acquired by two of the other contenders.

Bell Micro’s acquisition by Avnet and Sphinx’s purchase by Arrow ECS narrowed the field of candidates from nine to seven as all four distributors were involved in the review.

The security vendor launched the review in January with the intention of rationalising the number of distributors it works with in the UK. It currently works with broadliners Ingram Micro and Computer 2000, and VADs Sphinx and Arc Technology.

Candidates were set to hear the final verdict in early July but Avnet and Arrow have been given more time to reassess their bids.

Jill Henry, UK and Ireland channel director at McAfee, said the process had also been complicated by McAfee’s decision to hire an external consultant to examine the pan-European distribution landscape.

At the same time, the vendor recently appointed a global head who is helping with the process.

“There are a lot of moving parts to the RFI [request for information] we hadn’t anticipated at the start of the process,” she said.

Henry said there is as yet no fixed date for informing distributors of the outcome but it would “definitely be this year”.