Avnet deepens ties with RSA in Europe

Partnership will strengthen distribution giant's growing security portfolio across six major territories

A month after its UK partnership with RSA was first revealed by CRN, Avnet has announced the extension of its partnership with the vendor across six European territories.

The merger of distributors Arrow and Computerlinks had left the security vendor underserved and in need of another distribution partner to fill the gap.

Although neither side would comment to Channelweb at the time, Avnet has now ‘officially’ announced the addition of the UK, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg to its partnership agreement, along with the relaunch of the business into Spain and Italy.

The distribution behemoth claimed the move further strengthens its security offerings after the expansion of its EMEA security and networking solutions division, first announced in June.

Steve Wheeler, channel sales director of RSA, said: “Avnet’s proven expertise for helping resellers target growth opportunities and deliver complete business solutions aligns with our business strategy for channel development. Avnet’s new security business model and strong positioning in the datacentre will help RSA address new partner and market opportunities.”

Miriam Murphy, senior vice president of enterprise sales and marketing at Avnet Technology Solutions EMEA, said: “Our existing distribution agreement with RSA continues to expand in Europe, which means we’re well positioned to address additional high potential growth markets. We will continue to help security partners, such as RSA, develop and manage new business models for security technologies as the market evolves.”