Preventia speaks out over product arm closure

'We probably left it a bit too long', says boss of security VAR following decision to liquidate traditional business and focus on cloud

The boss of security VAR Preventia has spoken of his regret at having to shut its product business after deciding to focus on cloud services.

Crawley-based Preventia Limited was voluntarily wound up in late October after more than 10 years of plying its trade as a supplier of leading-edge IT security solutions.

According to documents filed with Companies House, it folded with total unsecured debts of £374,000, with notable trade creditors including vendors Akami, Centrify and CounterTack.

Managing director Nick Peaster told CRN he had been left with no option but to close Preventia Limited and pool efforts behind its services arm, Preventia Services.

Peaster said his product team was increasingly bumping heads with direct-selling vendor partners such as Dell, making it impossible to compete on maintenance and renewals deals.

"Unfortunately, it had got to the point where it was costing us £35,000 a month to run it, and in the last couple of months we were doing about five support calls a month. The only option was to close the office, make the lads redundant and liquidate the business," he said.

Incorporated in 2012, managed and professional services outfit Preventia Services counts Menlo Security, SkyHigh Networks and Resilient Systems among its vendor partners.

"There are only five of us at the moment but the joy of the services business with Menlo and the other vendors is it is all recurring revenue. You can also scale it without having to scale back-end support, because 24/7 support is included in the subscription," Peaster said.

"That's the way the market is going. I'm afraid people just aren't buying product any more - or if they are, they are buying it directly," he added.

"More and more, people are consuming IT as a cloud service and I think all resellers are going to have to move that way. We probably left that decision a bit too long, if I'm honest, and it was a bit more dramatic than it would have been if we'd been more progressive."

Yuri Pasea, chief executive of distributor Prianto, said: "It's always sad when a reseller closes but refreshing when they reinvent themselves. Resellers need to adapt to a fast-changing market where online is now so dominant. I am pleased that Nick is back with a format which I believe will work for his new company."