Barrie Desmond to exit Exclusive Group

'Tired' COO prepares to hand over to successor Andy Travers after seven years at the distributor

Exclusive Group COO Barrie Desmond has told CRN he has "done his bit" for the distributor as he prepares to hand over his duties to successor Andy Travers.

Desmond (pictured) will leave the €1.75bn-revenue VAD at the end of December after a seven-year stint at the Paris-based firm.

He will effectively be replaced by former Fortinet and RSA executive Travers, who has a different job title of SVP worldwide sales and marketing.

Desmond told CRN he had made no decision on his future plans beyond a trip to the ski slopes in January.

"I've done my bit. I'm bloody tired. Now is the time for the company to have a new voice and I'm just so pleased Andy is the guy succeeding me. I've known him for 20 years and he's had experience at every level of the channel," he said.

Desmond joined Exclusive via its 2011 acquisition of VADition, and since then Exclusive has built out a global footprint, most recently expanding into the US. After breaking the €1bn-revenue barrier in 2016, Exclusive has set itself a new €10bn revenue goal under new private equity backer Permira.

"We set out to do something seven or eight years ago and it was a big idea, driven by [CEO] Olivier [Breittmayer]," Desmond said. "We've had a lot of fun but we've spent a lot of energy doing it. Now the platform is set for the next chapter of this story.

"I'm going to see how my life is and in January onwards do a bit of skiing and make some decisions then. Nothing is decided from my perspective."

Travers, who began his role this week, previously worked at key Exclusive ally Fortinet, and has also worked in reseller land at Teksys, as well as distributor equIP.

Breittmayer said Exclusive deliberately avoided appointing an executive from a rival distributor.

"The fact that he has come from a vendor, and a reseller, means he understands the needs of those people," Breittmayer said. "The idea is to continue to be different and not replicate, and we didn't want someone from another distributor. I've known Andy a long time and he was very successful at Fortinet. For us it is a great asset to have someone who understands the vendor and reseller needs, and who has experience in Europe, the US and AsiaPac."

Travers added: "Joining Exclusive is very exciting for me as it has earned a first-class reputation for delivering what no one else has managed to deliver, which is value-added distribution at scale."