IBM reseller duo move to reduce reliance on Big Blue

Meridian and Tectrade both referenced efforts to diversify their vendor portfolios in their latest annual accounts

Two of IBM's most committed UK partners have referenced their efforts to reduce their reliance on Big Blue, and work with a broader set of vendors, in their latest sets of annual accounts.

Big Blue has infamously seen revenues decline for 22 consecutive quarters as it reshapes its business to focus on "strategic imperatives" such as analytics and cloud.

In their recently filed 2017 accounts, Meridian IT and Tectrade both referenced initiatives to diversify their vendor portfolios during the year.

Meridian said that its long-held strategy of working "almost exclusively" as an IBM Business Partner "could be considered detrimental in the sense of 'all our eggs in one basket'."

"In recognition of this, we have diversified the business significantly into other IT vendors where we are developing strong reseller partner relationships, and a significant business pipeline," the firm said in its directors' report for its year ending 31 March 2017, which it filed on Companies House in mid-November.

Henley In Arden-based Meridian saw revenue rise four per cent during the year to £17.5m, although operating profits fell to £889,000.

It was a similar story for Tectrade, which also filed its results for the year to 31 March 2017 on Companies House two weeks ago.

This Godalming-based data infrastructure specialist attributed a 30 per cent annual sales leap to its decision to diversify its vendor roster during the year. While IBM remains a "core partner", the addition of Dell EMC to its portfolio helped propel revenues from £12.4m to £16.1m. Operating profits virtually halved to £1.3m, however.

"Vendor diversification will continue in 2017/18, offering existing and new customers a wider range of product and services options," Tectrade's directors' report added.