QBS expanding portfolio and geographical reach

QBS has been expanding its vendor portfolio and geographical reach over the past few days with some significant moves.

The distributor has been appointed by Java specialist Azul to help accelerate the firm’s business across EMEA as it taps into a customer shift towards better value Java offerings.

“Organisations across EMEA are struggling with out-of-control Java support and cloud costs that eat into their margins and restrict their ability to modernise applications and infrastructure in a dynamic and competitive world,” said Simon Taylor, vice-president of worldwide channel sales at Azul.

“Azul is 100% focused on providing partners with a unique opportunity to solve challenging customer Java licensing, security and cloud cost challenges while driving improved customer success across all types of partners including VARs and alliances,” he added. 

From the QBS perspective, the addition of the vendor, which helps to identify Java vulnerabilities, will provide its resellers with more cloud infrastructure support options.

In response, Andreea Dumitrescu, managing director UK&I at QBS, said it had a responsibility to bring innovative products to market to put in front of partners: “Java is a key technology for solving many of today’s top challenges around FinOps, software supply chain security and performance-driven applications, and a product portfolio like Azul’s opens up exciting new services opportunities for our VAR partners.”

The Azul deal follows in the wake of QBS setting up a META division and moving into Turkey with a majority investment in security distributor InfoNet.

The push into the META region is part of QBS’s ambition to become a $1bn business by 2030. The firm indicated that InfoNet would be the first of a number of acquisitions it was planning to collect this year.

Along with the extra geographical presence, InfoNet comes with relationships with a range of vendors, including Allot, Checkpoint, EfficientIP, Firemon, ForcePoint, Ipswitch/Progress, Indeni, RSA, and Trend Micro. InfoNet comes with a 32-strong staff and offices in Istanbul and Ankara.

“Turkey has been on our radar for some time, but finding a company with the right fit was of utmost importance. With InfoNet, we have an established and successful distribution business with a large customer network and best-in-class products, as well as a very experienced management team and exceptional strong technical competency,” said QBS’ CEO, Dave Stevinson.

InfoNet’s Kemal Ciliz indicated that it recognised that fresh backing would help the firm to expand its horizons: “Our business has experienced continuous growth. However, to reach the next level, we required a partner with a shared vision for the company as well as having similar values.”