Growing distributor faces flood of new techs

Distributor Zycko will show growth over the previous year in spite of the economic problems in Europe, and also indicates that the flood of US VC-backed technology vendors looking for channels is actually increasing.

Zycko’s full year results are not due to be filed until later this year. “These are tough conditions, but we have picked some good technologies and opened up some new regions,” says David Galton-Fenzi, Zycko’s group sales director, who is also part-owner since the management buyout last year.

“The first quarter of the new Financial Year has been very good, helped by our operations in the US and South Africa which are not having the issues as some parts of Europe. In fact it should be a record for the group; we expected it to be slow, but it has continued to grow.”

The operation in Poland has started and has grown well in the last year since it was established. “And we are seeing signs of growth in Spain and I am quite excited about the prospects there for the coming year. As IT Europa has reported, the Spanish security market is growing. They are not innovators, but there are more early adopters there than there has been for a while. Riverbed [Zycko was named Riverbed’s EMEA distributor of the year in March] has started to do well there. Other regions which have found it tough recently, for example Italy, will recover; “we have some large customers there and it is only a matter of time until they start to spend as they were.”

He is being contacted by lots of new vendors – more than ever.

Zycko has a record of working with new technologies as they emerge, and he reports a lot of VC-backed companies currently coming to Europe.

“I get approached - a serious approach - about once a week. I don’t have to chase after them anymore, just put them in an orderly list. I have definitely seen an increase in volume. I look at a serious relationship, putting products into our labs and so on, about once every two months.”

“We have recently signed Actifio, Meraki and Tintri. And with the business growing we have been lucky enough to be able to increase the investment in new products without having to cut back others. Not many organisations are in that position.”