Citrix hands Arrow exclusive mid-market role in Europe

Citrix has chosen to appoint Arrow its sole distributor aiming at supporting the vendor’s mid-market growth.

The vendor’s agreement starts from 3 March, with Arrow picking up responsibility for supporting Citrix’s mid-market business in Europe and North America. From 2 June, the distie will become the sole second tier operator for the vendor in those regions.

The decision to give Arrow exclusivity is designed to make it clear for SME and mid-market-facing partners where to go for products and support.

Arrow will also be expected to recruit fresh channel partners to widen the market reach for Citrix.

Ethan Fitzsimons, senior vice-president of partnerships and commercial sales for Citrix, said that it was always keeping an eye on its channel partner make-up.

“For a business such as ours, it is critical that we continue to reassess our go-to-market strategy and how that aligns with the needs of the business and our customers,” he said. “The changes we are making are significant for our channel partners, but we believe they will provide channel partners with greater flexibility and efficiency to better serve both existing and new customers.”

The plan is for Citrix to continue working with those partners targeting enterprise customers, with Arrow supporting as a distributor, and the vendor ramping up its investment to improve the levels of support on offer.

The firm is making an incremental multimillion-dollar investment in channel-dedicated technical resources and partner support teams to support the enterprise business.

Cedric Doignie, vice-president of new models for Arrow’s global enterprise computing solutions business, said that the company was up to the challenge of delivering channel support for Citrix around the mid-market.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Citrix as the exclusive provider for their mid-market reseller business. Leveraging Arrow’s extensive channel partner network, reach and experience, we look forward to helping Citrix grow its install base, increase subscription conversions and drive further market expansion through this strategic agreement,” he said.

Citrix made it clear that it would be business as usual until the relationship with Arrow took effect in the next few months. Customers that have already placed orders, including orders for customer support and maintenance, have been assured they will not be affected. Citrix channel partners and distributors will continue to receive the applicable incentives and transact on placed orders as previously outlined.

The long-standing relationship between Arrow and Citrix has been deepening over recent months. Back in November, the distie was given the opportunity to take on sales, marketing and technical support for all MSP and ISV partners consuming fewer than 2,000 Citrix CSP licenses across North America and Europe.

Citrix became part of Cloud Software Group back in 2022, and last year made several changes to its channel programme, moving to an annually committed model, which it believed would enable more stability and greater partner-specific investment.