Comparex name to take back seat following merger with SoftwareONE

Execs Zak Virdi and Neil Lomax open up on the rationale behind acquisition

The Comparex name will eventually fade into the background following the licensing giant's mega merger with SoftwareONE, execs Zak Virdi and Neil Lomax told CRN.

SoftwareONE announced plans to acquire Comparex last week, creating a €10bn firm with a headcount of 5,500.

The acquisition was driven partly by changing customer consumption behaviour and the ongoing skills gap affecting the channel, according to UK MD Virdi and worldwide strategy boss Lomax.

"Our clients are moving away from a transactional model and this is really driving the extended opportunities we'll see with having Comparex's capabilities in SoftwareONE,"said Virdi.

"This deal is very much about looking at capabilities that can extend the value we provide to our customers."

Virdi cited Comparex's managed service solutions around unified cloud management and cloud consumption monitoring as examples of these opportunities.

The MD said that combining the facilities of both organisations will allow the company to chase after bigger targets.

"We both have different segments of the market that we engage with and I feel that provides opportunities on both sides to leverage our capabilities and enhance our service opportunities to customers," Virdi explained.

"Both organisations have a software-orientated approach and - as we've seen the market develop with more software-defined services and technical requirements - this opens up huge new markets to us which we previously may not have had access to, whether that is around unified comms or network infrastructure.

"We're not held up by legacy components of hardware maintenance or support because of the change to cloud-based technology. That gives us both increased reach and a larger customer base with which to go after bigger markets than the one we currently operate in."

Lomax (pictured right) confirmed that Comparex will be folded into the SoftwareONE name, but that the rebranding will be a soft roll out.

"Comparex is a strong brand, but over time we will make sure that we roll it out in a senstive way that is relevant to certain markets," he said. "We expect over time for it to become part of the SoftwareONE family, but will take care of planning around that to make sure it lands well with our customers and technology partners."

The combined business will continue to be Headquartered in SoftwareONE's Stanz, Switzerland base.

The merger will also see the company's headcount increase, which played a key part of the deal, according to Lomax.

"This business is based around people and competence," he explained. "As technology is moving so fast, getting good skills into an organisation is really difficult and one of the benefits of this transaction is that we get even more skills into both companies."