Sonian quashes UK exit rumours
New owner of Webroot's email archiving business stresses UK commitment despite rumours of staff departures and office closures
The new owner of Webroot's email archiving business has moved to clear up rumours that the firm is exiting the UK, following the closure of its Bracknell office and the departure of its EMEA boss.
Webroot has been hiving off its email archiving customers to US-based Sonian since late last year after ChannelWeb revealed that the security vendor was in the throes of withdrawing support for the product.
Further to this, Sonian released a statement last month confirming that it had acquired Webroot's email archiving business and would use its presence in the UK to support its EMEA-wide growth plans.
The firm set up shop in the UK last November, listing Webroot's EMEA headquarters in Bracknell as its address.
However, ChannelWeb was informed last week by several anonymous sources that the firm has recently vacated the premises and instructed its UK staff to work from home.
ChannelWeb also understands that former Webroot boss Mark Tickle, who was enlisted by Sonian to oversee its EMEA expansion plans, left the company several weeks ago.
Speaking to ChannelWeb, Sonian's chief executive Jeff Dickerson was keen to stress the firm's commitment to the UK market, but declined to comment directly on personnel changes.
"I do not comment on personnel changes because it is not good corporate hygiene, but what I can tell you is that the presence in the UK is doubling down," said Dickerson.
"Think of it like Manchester United. The starting line-up might be different to what it was the year before, but it does not mean we are not playing soccer."
He confirmed the company has moved out of its Bracknell headquarters and claimed Sonian was in the throes of signing a new office lease elsewhere.
"All we were doing was taking a piece of the Webroot facility, but we could not afford to take all that space on [when Webroot left]," he explained.
"In the US, we have 40 or so people who work remotely out of their homes or studio offices. The technology is cloud-enabled and we are able to efficiently work remotely and [that is] what we were doing in the UK."
Craig McAlpine, managing director of Sonian Master Reseller EPA Cloud, said he was aware of the vendor's recent operational changes, but denied they were a cause for concern.
"I have seen the product road map and some of the other developments Sonian is planning, and they do not strike me as the kind of moves a company that is planning to exit the market would make," he said.
Nessa Lynchehaun, channel director of Webroot rival Mimecast, told ChannelWeb that consolidation in the email security market has caused problems for partners.
"This consolidation causes a lot of disruption and we work with partners to migrate their customers [on to the Mimecast platform] and minimise the disruption to them," she said.
"We pride ourselves on being the ‘SaaS with a face' company, which is important in the cloud because partners and customers like to know who they are dealing with," she added.