Trustmarque fearful for box-shifting LARs

York-based reseller claims Nimbus acquisition marks it out from other Microsoft LARs

Trustmarque claims it has stolen a march on the Microsoft large account reseller (LAR) community after acquiring its way into the cloud market.

Trustmarque snapped up Nimbus Technology Systems last week and will use the Hertfordshire-based firm's brand as a beachhead to build a comprehensive cloud offering.

Angelo Di Ventura, group sales and marketing director at Trustmarque (pictured), said cloud computing holds the rich margins that software licensing did a decade ago.

"This sets us aside from the traditional Microsoft LAR market," Di Ventura said.

"I still fear for a lot of traditional LARs that are just reselling licences.

"It is good that we are in relatively early and this is hand in glove with where Microsoft is taking its business."

Nimbus' 10 employees are moving to Trustmarque under TUPE regulations. Its brand will now be used for all Trustmarque's hosted and cloud ser­vices in its Enterprise Solutions Group.

Neil Murphy, managing director of rival LAR Bytes, said he had no plans to make a cloud acquisition and would press on with his approach of partnering with best-of-breed cloud outfits.

"This is the right move for Trust­marque, but the partnership model works very well for us and keeps our costs low. Our partners have tried-and-tested expertise, so there is no point building that ourselves," he added.