FutureLink makes KNS an ASP after £27m takeover

The transition of thin client distributor KNS into an application service provider has been cemented with its £27m acquisition by US-based ASP FutureLink.

The transition of thin client distributor KNS into an application service provider has been cemented with its £27m acquisition by US-based ASP FutureLink.

KNS aims to make service provision its core business in the next few years. Under the deal, KNS will become FutureLink Europe and provide a base for European expansion.

Yuri Pasea, managing director of KNS, said the existing distribution business will be maintained in the next few years to provide income while the ASP business is growing, and because the products KNS carries will be part of the service. "I hope to have an ASP offering in place by the end of spring to offer to our resellers," he added.

Because FutureLink wants to host a wide range of applications within many niche markets, it will not be able to sell them directly and will need to involve resellers in configuration as well as support, providing them with margin.

The only software KNS will sell directly will be a 'tick list' of generic messaging and office applications, Pasea said.

He claimed KNS's existing management structure will stay in place, but refused to declare which software vendors had signed to use the ASP service.

He claimed FutureLink's prominence in the US means it can "attract some big names".

FutureLink has recently bought three Citrix VARs in the US. Pasea revealed that negotiations are under way with hosting centres and service providers to extend the service in Europe.