Wick Hill in SME deal with Check Point

Wick Hill has signed a distribution agreement with Check Point for the vendor's SME range, after nine months of negotiations. However, the move has not been welcomed by Check Point's other distribution partners.

Check Point, which is currently distributed by Unipalm, Allasso and Westcon, will use Wick Hill to make gains in the SME market, following its SME product launch last October. The deal includes its VPN-1 Edge and Express Firewall products.

Bernie Dodwell, business development director at Wick Hill, said the deal is significant for the distributor, which, he claimed, will be seen as the vendor's route into markets outside the enterprise sector.

"Check Point has realised it needs the expertise and understanding in the SME to take these products to market," he said. "Check Point was trying to sell a Rolls Royce instead of a Mini into small businesses."

Dodwell said Wick Hill is setting itself tough targets. "By the middle of next year we are looking for a run rate of between 5,000 and 8,000 units per year.

"We are interested in signing new Check Point resellers that previously believed its products were too high-end."

However, Dave Ellis, director of e-security at rival Check Point distributor Unipalm, questioned whether the vendor required another distributor in the UK.

"I do not think Wick Hill reaches resellers that its existing distributors don't already reach," he said. "We have an enterprise focus but we work with lots of resellers in the SME space."

But Viv Francis, UK channel director at Check Point, said the vendor only anticipates a seven to 10 per cent distribution overlap.

"We have grown our SME sales but most of the products have ended back in the enterprise where our other distributors mostly operate, so we needed an SME specialist," she added.

karl_flinders@vnu.co.uk

See also:

SME Business Centre

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Vendor rewards reseller for around-the-clock managed services  05 Sep 2004

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