Coming together of the odd couple

Several years after its near-death experience, being dragged from the clutches of the administrators by CCD, Metrologie and Computacenter's volume distribution arm have finally consummated what they started.

The merger of CCD, the volume arm, and Metrologie, the enterprise arm of Computacenter’s distribution setup has taken nearly six years to come about. But regardless of whether the merger is a good move for its reseller or vendor partners, the move leaves many questions unanswered.

Why now, for example? Six years is a long time to wait to merge two disparate companies, especially when CCD admitted in its letter to partners that the two firms were “disjointed”. Surely when CCD bought Metrologie in 1999 and went through the pain of making redundancies, it would have been better to co-ordinate the back- and front-end systems to get it out of the way.

One answer could be that the firm is now fattening itself up for a potential buyer. Rumours have been rampant for several years that Computacenter has wanted to divest itself of its distribution arm to concentrate on its more lucrative services business – something the firm has vehemently denied.

While Computacenter concentrates on ensuring the merged firms will run a streamlined strategy, the move is fraught with danger. This is perhaps another reason why the union was not attempted before.

In spite of sharing a parent, both CCD and Metrologie have very different market perceptions. CCD’s volume, get-it-out-the-door-quick mentality, alongside Metrologie’s higher-end, added value enterprise play might not make for an easy mix. Not only that, but they both have established brand names, which they are equally respected for; losing the Metrologie name could give the impression that the combined company’s offering has been diluted.

But a marriage of any kind is never without risk, and the cost savings and efficiency gains that could be achieved through the merger could be worth the ordeal.