Logical and Alcatel part company

Nine-month contract terminated because of poor sales

Alcatel's ongoing channel review has seen it end its nine-month contract with VAR Logical because it failed to generate any sales at all for the French network vendor.

Logical claimed there had been little demand from its customers for Alcatel's equipment, while Alcatel said Logical's recent restructuring meant it was "no longer appropriate" to continue the relationship.

Jeremy Keefe, sales director at Logical, said the break-up was mutual and that no customers would be affected. He added that the reseller was looking for a replacement for Alcatel. Keefe admitted the company had met with Avaya, among others.

A statement issued by both firms said: "This joint decision was reached following recent restructuring and refocusing of resources within Logical, and in line with Alcatel's ongoing development of its Business Partner Programme."

However, Paul Ballinger, head of UK channels at Alcatel, claimed the decision had been made by the vendor.

"It was our decision. Logical has gone through changes and it is a different company now," he said.

Logical admitted in June that it had not been proactive with sales and had embarked on a process of reshaping to "rebalance its business" and become a more sales-led organisation.

The reseller recently established an IP telephony (IPT) and service assurance unit and is now looking to move into other areas.

"We are about to sign a vendor in the service assurance space. And we are still strong in IPT with Cisco," he said.

Manny Pinon, sales and marketing director at distributor Norwood Adam, said Alcatel has had trouble understanding the UK channel.

"Alcatel is big in voice across Europe, but on the continent it sells mainly through incumbent telephone companies, which is different to the UK," he said.