ISS ends Allasso deal after take-over
Security vendor terminates pan-European distribution agreement
Security vendor ISS has terminated its pan-European distribution agreement with Allasso, claiming that the distributor's route to market following its acquisition by InTechnology will not help the vendor to grow.
But the move has ignited concerns among distributors that ISS is moving towards a single-tier model, supplying resellers directly.
Richard Millar, UK managing director of ISS, confirmed the move to CRN. "We felt that the route the company will take, after its acquisition by InTechnology, will not help our growth going forward," he said.
But Bernie Dodwell, sales and marketing director at Allasso, which was European distributor of the year for ISS in 2001, rejected the vendor's reason for ending the relationship.
"We have been acquired by a firm that does not compete with ISS and actually introduces it to more resellers," he said.
The separation comes almost a year after ISS and distributor e92plus parted company. At the time, e92plus claimed that ISS had a confusing channel strategy.
Lee Harrison, business development manager at e92plus, said that distributors do not know where they stand in ISS's channel.
"It has been rumoured that ISS is dealing direct with resellers on big deals when it comes to refreshes," he said.
But Millar denied that ISS plans to introduce a single-tier channel. "We will continue our relationship with remaining distributors and sell direct to partners such as IBM Global Services and EDS," he said.
Stephen Bacon, managing director of reseller NetConnect, said: "I have not heard [about a single tier], but it would not surprise me because the ISS products do not lend themselves well to distribution.
"We are focused on building strong relationships with the vendors, not distributors."