'Why didn't we do this earlier?' - Irish distie boss on UK move

DataSolutions MD on winning business from bigger competitors

Irish distributor DataSolutions has seen its revenues skyrocket since entering the UK market three years ago, according to group managing director Michael O'Hara.

The firm said that the UK contributed 30 per cent to its overall revenue of €40m in its last financial year.

O'Hara (pictured above) expects turnover to hit €50m this year, which ends at the end of next month, with the UK business to contribute €20m to this figure.

The company expects half of its total revenue to come from the UK by 2021.

The VAD specialises in datacentre and cybersecurity technology and counts Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Citrix, Commvault and Nutanix among its vendor partners.

O'Hara explained that it has so far focused solely on the datacentre market in the UK, but this year plans to add cybersecurity to its offerings.

It recently signed an exclusive UK and Ireland distribution agreement with data prevention loss vendor Safetica, which O'Hara said is part of its plan to expand its security offerings in the UK market.

"We are a good, old-fashioned VAD, which means we are all about providing a really good service and focusing on our customers' needs," O'Hara told CRN.

"Right now in the UK our business is 100 per cent from datacentre. We are confident that we can replicate what we did in datacentre with our cybersecurity business - we are very comfortable in those spaces."

DataSolutions competes with much larger disties including the likes of Tech Data in the UK space, but O'Hara explained that it is VAD credentials that are seeing it win business against its much larger counterparts.

"Obviously it's a competitive market, but if the partner isn't getting the service it needs from larger distributors, that can affect their business and they need a certain expertise, which can lead them to us," he said.

The prospect of a no-deal Brexit puts all disties on an even keel, O'Hara added.

"It is a comfort that we are in the exact same boat as our competitors; no one has any advantage," he stated.

"We came into the UK market a few months before the UK voted to leave, so all we've ever known is Brexit.

"We are happy with how we have performed in the past three years and the UK continues to be a strong market, though I do expect there to be delays and extra costs should Brexit go ahead."

DataSolutions has developed an expansion fund for acquisitions, but O'Hara said that, although one or two opportunities have presented themselves, there is nothing in the pipeline at the moment.

However, he added that the UK would be ideal for an acquisition in order to strengthen the VAD's foothold in the market.

The Irish distributor currently has 80 transactional partners in the UK but "has reach" with 1,100 more, according to O'Hara.

DataSolutions was established in Dublin in 1991, but it took 25 years for it to expand into the neighbouring UK. O'Hara is rueful of the length of time it took to make the move.

"We did think about it on and off through the years," he explained.

"But what was in the back of my mind was ‘how do we give the same level of service if we are not there?'

"It was an initial fear. But being in business 25 years - at the time - we knew what we were doing and had the confidence that our business would continue to grow in the Irish market.

"In the UK we had to go out and establish ourselves and it was very exciting and good fun. It was rewarding to see us start to close deals there and grow the business. Now I think why didn't we do this earlier?"