Pasea bounces back with new distie
Ex-Arrow exec launches company that aims to give small virtualisation firms a break
Channel veteran Yuri Pasea has taken the covers off his latest distribution venture, which aims to help lesser-known virtualisation players gain a foothold in the UK market.
His new firm, Prianto, is partly funded by a German distributor of the same name. Its focus will be on supporting virtualisation ecosystem vendors whose technologies complement those made by VMware, Citrix and Microsoft.
Before launching Prianto, Pasea spent several years as a divisional director at Arrow ECS, after the company he founded, Centia, was acquired by the distribution giant in 2007.
Since opening for business at the start of June, Prianto has clinched distribution contracts with three vendors and is in the throes of signing up a fourth.
These are virtual server optimisation vendor Veloxum, VDI specialist Virtual Computer and PC surveillance and monitoring firm SpectorSoft.
Speaking exclusively to ChannelWeb, Pasea said he plans to sign up a maximum of six vendors this year, with projected revenue of £2m to £4m.
“There are vendors out there with great technology, but their size makes it very difficult for them to get the attention of the larger distributors,” he explained. “For resellers, these products are a good way of adding value to a deal because they add functionality to what VMware or Citrix do.”
Rob Greenslade, sales and marketing director at Citrix VAR Centralis, said having access to ecosystem products often results in resellers bagging bigger deals.
“Adding these products to a VMware or Citrix deal is a good way of securing a few extra points of margin, and also gives VARs a chance to revisit customers and add value to projects they have already done,” he added.
Oren Taylor, director of virtualisation-focused distributor CDG UK, said that as Prianto’s vendors become better known in the UK, there is a risk they could defect to its tier-one rivals.
“If you are doing a good job for your vendor, they will stick with you for your specialist knowledge, and partner with the bigger guys to get the commodity sales,” said Taylor.
“There is a gap in the market for what Prianto is trying to do, because the larger distributors find it hard to justify signing smaller vendors, from a financial point of view,” he added.
Andi Robinson, chief executive of start-up distributor Securedis, said: "New and emerging vendors do not necessarily have the marketing budget to approach the big distributors. Yuri brings a new boutique, entrepreneurial distributor they can work with."