Two of IBM’s most monogamous UK partners have told the world they want to see other people and work with other vendors.
In their accounts, Meridian IT and Tectrade referenced initiatives to diversify their vendor portfolios during the year.
Meridian said has been working “almost exclusively” as an IBM Business Partner “has decided that putting ‘all our eggs in one basket’ could end up with the company’s bottom line scrambled.
In its directors’ report for its year ending 31 March 2017, which it filed on Companies House in mid-November the company said: “we have diversified the business significantly into other IT vendors where we are developing strong reseller partner relationships, and a significant business pipeline.”
Meridian saw revenue rise four per cent during the year to £17.5 million, although operating profits fell to £889,000.
Data infrastructure specialist Tectrade’s saw a 30 per cent annual sales leap and said that was because it broke its IBM addition and diversified its vendor roster.
While IBM remains a “core partner”, the addition of Dell EMC to its portfolio helped propel revenues from £12.4m to £16.1 million. Operating profits virtually halved to £1.3 million.
“Vendor diversification will continue in 2017/18, offering existing and new customers a wider range of product and services options,” Tectrade’s directors’ report added.
