Aruba terminates Avnet

Distributor served notice following last week's appointment of Exclusive Networks

Aruba has formally canned Avnet in the UK following its decision to appoint rival distributor Exclusive Networks.

The wireless LAN (WLAN) vendor this morning ended its three-year engagement with Avnet by serving the distributor with 60 days' notice.

Aruba last week added Exclusive Networks to its UK stable to help build up sales of its new ClearPass network access control solution, leading to speculation that it would immediately chop one of its two incumbents.

As the smaller and less-established distributor, Avnet – rather than Mayflex – always looked to be in the firing line.

Chris Kozup, senior director of EMEA marketing at Aruba, told ChannelWeb: "There was a difference in the level of engagement we had between Mayflex and Avnet. Mayflex is one of our largest distribution partners in EMEA and there was a big difference in the scale of business each partner generated."

Kozup said Exclusive would help drive Aruba deeper into the security channel as the vendor expands from its roots in WLAN.

"Where historically we have very much been a WLAN company, we are moving much more into the secure mobile access space," he said. "Working with a partner that understands security was at the crux of the decision."

Aruba will wind down engagements with Avnet over the next two months, Kozup said.

In a statement, Laura Harman, sales director at Avnet Technology Solutions, said: "We're sorry to be parting ways with Aruba. Avnet Technology Solutions UK remains committed to supporting its business partners in the areas of wireless infrastructure and bring your own device solutions.

"It will continue to drive opportunity and accelerate growth in these technology areas through its partnerships with suppliers including Juniper and Symantec."