The UK's top 40 IT distributors generated nearly £13bn revenues in their latest years, CRN research has found. Here we count down those ranked 40th to 26th...
‘We spot emerging cybersecurity vendors'
31. Distology
Revenues: £25.8m (+60%)
Headcount: 35
Specialism: Cybersecurity
Key vendors: Okta, LogRhythm, Beyond Identity, Yubico, Verkada, Shape Security (F5)
HQ: Stockport
This ambitious security VAD has set its sights on international growth after taking on private equity investment from NorthEdge Capital in February.
Founded in 2014, Distology generated revenues of £25.8m in its year to 31 March 2021, up from £16.1m in 2020 and £7.8m in 2019. Based in Salford, it launched an Amsterdam office in 2018 and is now eyeing expansion into the US and Germany.
Quickfire Q&A with Distology CEO Hayley Roberts
What specialism is your firm known for, and what sets you apart from your peers?
We spot and really support new, emerging cyber security vendors into Europe through our channel partner base. And those channel partners really trust our focus and dedication to deliver excellent service levels and expert vendor knowledge.
Which emerging vendors are you betting big on this year?
Passwordless is huge, so I am backing one of our latest signings Beyond Identity as an emerging vendor.
Have you made any significant vendor signings in the last 12 months?
Oh yes, LogRhythm was a big signing for us, not just because they are significantly larger than most of our new vendors, but because they are underestimated and we have a lot potential with their new offerings for cloud and recent acquisition in NDR.
What's the biggest misconception about distribution?
It's that distribution is just transactional and an unnecessary additional step (and cost). But, for those vendors and channel partners who we support, we build markets, filter noise and, in each customer project, we are often instrumental in defining the solution to the end customer, which is great value for everyone involved.
How would you summarise the health of the distribution sector in 2021?
Given the fact that private equity have acquired and backed IT distribution businesses recently eg Tech Data, Infinigate and Distology latterly, I believe the health of distribution and what we can offer as a service is in a good state.
What's been your biggest disappointment of the last year?
The COVID impact was a huge disappointment, as it meant some larger deals that were forecast were delayed. Regardless, we still saw significant growth on every level and we are starting to see a more buoyant start to FY22 for us and I am extremely proud of the attitude of the team.
Do you expect to grow in 2021?
We're forecasting significant growth and fully expect to achieve it, so we've been hiring to make it a reality.
At first glance, the rise of cloud must be pretty devastating for distributors if there is no physical product to ship. How have you adapted?
We set up from the start to embrace cloud, actively focusing on SaaS; in fact, it's our speciality and any small amount of hardware we work with is drop shipped. As time has gone on we also intend on embracing the public cloud marketplaces in whatever way best benefits our vendor and channel partners.
How do you see the role of distribution changing in the 2020s?
Distribution needs to be more focused on due diligence of new tech coming to market and also understand what our reseller partners need in detail before throwing products out to market. It's too easy to say a product will gain traction, as we have a good base of resellers, but that blanket approach does not work as a strategy for growth.
Which £28m-revenue VAD sold up last month? Find out on next page...
