React ends row with Bradford

Trading Standard Service decides not to pursue actions against the distributor

React were told to inform customers that their product was Aruba ECS.

Distributor React Technologies is hoping the Trading Standards Service’s decision not to pursue action against it will end its spat with US vendor Bradford Networks.

Bradford has an OEM agreement with React’s vendor partner Aruba around Bradford’s NAC Director product. This caused controversy as reseller Khipu had previously been granted exclusive UK access to Bradford Campus Manager, which the vendor admitted is the same as NAC Director, (CRN, 26 November).

Earlier this year Bradford took issue with how React was taking Aruba’s Endpoint Compliance System (ECS), to market. In a letter to React from Hampshire County Council, Trading Standards officer Matthew Adams, said: “Although I understand the product you sell is effectively the same product as Bradford Campus Manager, it must be made clear to customers that your product is Aruba ECS.”

React managing director Jess Thompson-Hughes told CRN: “It is a good solution and we have trained people on it. If we walk away, that work has been lost. We want to provide an alternative to Khipu, but our enthusiasm has waned. We are talking about fairly petty semantics and this draws a line under it from a Trading Standards point of view.”