'We're doing better than even I expected' - Logicalis UK boss on recovery progress

Services now make up a larger proposition of Logicalis UK's business, Alex Louth says

Logicalis UK's rejuvenation and shift to a more services-led approach is running ahead of schedule, according to managing director Alex Louth.

Louth took the helm last year with a mandate to revitalise the firm and develop it beyond transactional selling.

Speaking to CRN, he said that services are making up an increasing amount of Logicalis' business.

"Last month our mix was completely wrong and I was having a small heart attack thinking we were too heavy on product and less on services," he said.

"But actually we were too heavy on services and were expecting more on product. I said to the team that's not a problem; I will take that one.

"It's good news and shows that we are doing better than even I expected us to do. To get the blend wrong; I can handle that. We will never remove product but we want to make sure we are providing what the market wants… that is a services-focused relationship."

Louth said that Logicalis will be reopening up its Slough office next month, with the London office set to remain closed until March.

But despite the delay in opening the London base, the managing director said that business has been strong over recent months as businesses make their remote working set-ups permanent - although larger "big bang" projects have become less frequent.

He added that the growth in services-based business has come as both a result of converting existing customers and bringing in new clients.

"At first I thought we didn't need to bring in new customers because we'd just convert," he said.

"But I have to say it's been a blend of the two, but there are some customers that we've had to reinvent ourselves with."

Louth has also streamlined Logicalis' vendor portfolio, with the firm set to become an Oracle partner next month, taking its key vendor partnerships up to five. Oracle will join NetApp, IBM, Microsoft and Cisco in the line-up.

"To have 18 vendors you need a big team to service them, make sure you've got all the certifications and make sure you've got strong relationships," he said. "We didn't quite land that."

"I absolutely saw the value of Cisco and IBM, but over the last year we've seen a really strong relationship with NetApp. We historically had one and we've seen that grow.

"We've come along with Microsoft incredibly well as well. The group felt a need to have a close public cloud relationship, where before we managed many vendors. We had to say ‘we're going to market with X'.

"So bringing NetApp, IBM and Cisco together has really worked and I expect Oracle to come into our portfolio over the next few months as well. We're not shutting the door to everyone else, but I think five is a good number for us."