From Softcat to Exertis: Top nine name changes in the UK channel
Following SBL’s decision to rebrand as boxxe, here we count down nine times identity overhauls have worked in the favour of firms in our industry…
9) boxxe-ing clever?
Previous name: SBL
New name (from 1 September 2020): boxxe
Success rating: Jury still out
Rationale:
Having acquired SBL last May, channel entrepreneur (and Kelway founder) Phil Doye is keen to stamp a new identity on the MoD and public sector software licensing specialist as it looks to break into the corporate market. Boxxe (pronounced ‘Boxx-ie') is also a nod to SBL's original moniker, Software Box.
Will it work?
With Doye telling CRN last October that the £200m-revenue outfit was "crying out for some ambition", it's no surprise that he is already looking to catapult SBL into Kelway's corporate stomping ground.
A name change is a bolder move given the brand power SBL enjoys in the MoD, but so far reaction has been positive, with channel veteran Eddie Pacey - for instance - branding it on LinkedIn "a good move". Along with its new ‘Make Technology Human' mantra, boxxe now feels like a firm that knows where it's going. But with the identity switchover not actually happening until 1 September, it's far too early to assess whether this is a marketing mishap or masterstroke.
From Softcat to Exertis: Top nine name changes in the UK channel
Following SBL’s decision to rebrand as boxxe, here we count down nine times identity overhauls have worked in the favour of firms in our industry…
8) What's the big IDE?
Previous name: Coretx
Current name (from 2017): IDE Group
Success rating: 6/10
Rationale
One of two firms in this countdown whose name change stemmed from legal hot water, IDE Group was forced to ditch its previous moniker - Coretx - following a legal spat with similarly named IT services provider Coreix.
With the Coretx name only having been adopted in 2016 (following an acquisition spree), this meant a second change of branded stationary in as many years for the Cisco partner.
Determined to look on the bright side, IDE Group's then CEO Andy Ross greeted the enforced move as "an opportunity to break from the past". ‘IDE Group'' was a name owned by one of its shareholders, and stands for Interactive Digital Entertainment.
Did it work?
This was a rebrand designed purely to keep the lawyers at bay, but it's hard to judge it as a total success given that IDE nearly went bust the following year (by the admission of its own leadership).
Ross left the firm in 2018, and IDE Group has since not only halted - but reversed - the M&A strategy of previous management - selling off 365 ITMS last year.
But given all this, perhaps a new brand identity was the best thing that could have happened to the firm, and IDE Group was actually the best performing reseller stock of 2019.
From Softcat to Exertis: Top nine name changes in the UK channel
Following SBL’s decision to rebrand as boxxe, here we count down nine times identity overhauls have worked in the favour of firms in our industry…
7) Pretty Poly?
Previous name: Plantronics/Polycom
Current name (from March 2019): Poly
Success rating: 6/10
Rationale
Poly was unveiled in March 2019 as the new name for Plantronics and Polycom, who merged 12 months previously.
"Our new brand represents the many elements of our history that we bring together to enable people to work the way we all work now, which is anywhere and across multiple collaboration tools," Poly's CMO Amy Barzdukas beamed at the time.
Did it work?
Going purely on Poly's share price since the rebrand, the answer has to be a resounding ‘no'. Its market value has fallen by over two-thirds in the intervening 15 months (including by as much as 25 per cent on a single day in November).
A day after Poly announced its rebrand, it was hit by a lawsuit from PDP Gaming over the similarity of its logo - although Barzdukas has since argued that it was a textbook rebranding.
To give the NYSE-listed firm some credit, its shares have rallied during the pandemic, with new CEO Robert Hagerty claiming last month that Poly's solutions are "essential more than" ever as the firm topped its Q4 revenue guidance.
From Softcat to Exertis: Top nine name changes in the UK channel
Following SBL’s decision to rebrand as boxxe, here we count down nine times identity overhauls have worked in the favour of firms in our industry…
6) Sky's the limit?
Previous name: Skyscape
Current name (from 2016): UKCloud
Success rating: 7/10
Rationale
"Personally I think it's a better name," UKCloud CEO Simon Hansford told CRN in 2016 as the hosting provider ditched its previous Skyscape moniker in the wake of a legal tussle with Sky.
UKCloud had been in dispute with Sky for two years, and opted to make a clean break with its previous name following an ambiguous court ruling.
Did it work?
With data sovereignty a hot issue at the time, rebranding under the UKCloud banner was arguably an - albeit slightly enforced - masterstroke.
The firm quickly grew to become one of the poster children of UK IaaS provision, with revenues bulging from £4m in 2014 to £43m in 2017 (its growth, has, however, arrested since then, with 2019 revenues dipping to £37m).
From Softcat to Exertis: Top nine name changes in the UK channel
Following SBL’s decision to rebrand as boxxe, here we count down nine times identity overhauls have worked in the favour of firms in our industry…
5) No drama for Adarma?
Previous name: ECS Security
Current name (from 2019): Adarma
Success rating: 7/10
Rationale:
Claiming to be Europe's largest Splunk partner, Adarma has quickly grown to become one of the UK's largest independent managed security services providers despite undergoing two ownership changes and accompanying name changes since its inception in 2009.
The latest of these came in 2019 after the 250-strong firm - previously known as ECS Security - separated from parent ECS Group with investment from private equity house Livingbridge.
"We were sharing group resources and were like the grown-up child who consumes the contents of the fridge," Adarma's CEO David Calder (pictured) recently told CRN.
Did it work?
Though it's a bit soon to draw conclusions, Adarma was one of the fasting-growing and most profitable firms in CRN's VAR 350 based on its most recently filed accounts, earning it a place in CRN's Rising Stars 2020.
From Softcat to Exertis: Top nine name changes in the UK channel
Following SBL’s decision to rebrand as boxxe, here we count down nine times identity overhauls have worked in the favour of firms in our industry…
4) Long wait-a for Tekdata
Previous name: Computer 2000
Current name (from 2013): Tech Data
Success rating: 8/10
Rationale
It's easy to forget that the UK's largest distributor was known as the Tomorrow's World-esque ‘Computer 2000' as recently as 2013.
The firm finally adopted the name of US parent Tech Data only seven years ago - some 15 years after Tech Data acquired it.
So what took it so long? At the time, Tech Data told us that the brand refresh needed to happen ahead of it integrating 2013 acquisition SDG.
That tells only part of the story, however, as the existence of another similarly named local distributor - security specialist Tekdata - had for some years thwarted Tech Data's desire to begin using its brand locally. Thankfully, Tekdata's owner Micro-P (which is now Exertis), dropped the Tekdata brand that year (allegedly in exchange for a fat wad of cash), clearing the way for the ancient-sounding Computer 2000 name to finally be ditched.
Did it work?
Despite it being arguably the UK's best-known distribution brand at the time, the name Computer 2000 was a comic gift for the comperes of the CRN's Channel Awards through the years.
Everyone from Jimmy Carr to Ed Byrne could not believe their luck to discover that one of our industry's main protagonists had a bizarrely outdated moniker that conjured images of the millennium bug, brick-like mobile phones and dial-up internet.
C2000 was a stronger brand in the UK than Tech Data in 2013, but its continued existence well into the 21st century was an anomaly. With the Tekdata name finally disappearing from view, changing names was a no-brainer, and seven years later it remains the UK's largest distributor.
From Softcat to Exertis: Top nine name changes in the UK channel
Following SBL’s decision to rebrand as boxxe, here we count down nine times identity overhauls have worked in the favour of firms in our industry…
3) Exertion excursion
Previous name: Micro-P and Gem
Current name (from 2014): Exertis
Success rating: 8/10
Rationale
Micro-P and Gem were two of the biggest UK distributors back in 2013 and were sister companies.
The trouble was that they were unable to operate as one company - and also demonstrate they were part of a bigger, European group - until the Exertis name was introduced that year (initially just as a pre-fix - see picture).
A year later, the Micro-P and Gem brands were scrapped entirely as Exertis changed from being a pre-fix to the sole name for 1,170-strong firm.
Did it work?
Six years on, Exertis has grown in size and continues to give the US broadliners a run for their money - in 2018 expanding into their own backyard by acquiring Stampede.
Bringing in a group brand was another easy decision, and - unlike predecessors Gem and Micro-P - the Exertis moniker nicely conjures up an image of a large machine working tirelessly behind the scenes in the service of its vendor and reseller partners.
From Softcat to Exertis: Top nine name changes in the UK channel
Following SBL’s decision to rebrand as boxxe, here we count down nine times identity overhauls have worked in the favour of firms in our industry…
2) Keep on, with the Forcepoint (don't stop ‘til you get enough)
Previous name: Websense
Current name (from 2016): Forcepoint
Success rating: 9/10
Rationale
Having acquired Websense in 2015, US defence contractor Raytheon rebranded the web filtering vendor - along with its other security assets - as Forcepoint a year later.
With firewall brands Stonesoft and Sidewinder - acquired from Intel - also on board, Raytheon needed a new name to reflect its enlarged security prowess.
Did it work?
Even down to the name itself, Websense seemed a tired - and slightly tarnished brand - in 2016, and switching to a new identity that emphasised its enlarged capabilities was the logical decision.
Prior to its acquisition by Raytheon and rebranding as Forcepoint, Websense had been plagued by accusations of poor support from partners, so much so that it finished a woeful 46th out of 50 in the 2015 CRN Vendor report.
Contrast that with last year's Vendor Report, when the Austin-based outfit finished a mid-table 22nd, garnering plaudits for its ‘human-centric' security strategy and "warmer and friendlier" attitude towards the channel along the way.
From Softcat to Exertis: Top nine name changes in the UK channel
Following SBL’s decision to rebrand as boxxe, here we count down nine times identity overhauls have worked in the favour of firms in our industry…
1) The cat that got the cream
Previous name: Software Catalogue/Wardswift
Current name: Softcat
Success rating: 10/10
Rationale
Originally incorporated in 1987 under the Wardswift name, Softcat was founded by Peter Kelly in 1993 as ‘Software Catalogue' (according to the unimpeachable source of Wikipedia)
The abbreviated, feline-sounding version of its full name quickly stuck, setting the scene for one of the UK channel's biggest ever success stories.
Did it work?
Whether you regard its original name as ‘Software Catalogue', or the even earlier incarnation of Wardswift, the decision by the Marlow-based reseller to settle on its current seven-letter moniker was nothing short of a triumph.
Despite a COVID-induced stock market dip, the reseller is currently valued at over £2bn and has its sights set on the same number from a revenue perspective.
Of course, the Softcat success story owes everything to the firm's unique culture, but it's hard to envisage its rise to the peak of the channel would have been possible with any other name.
On a related note, CRN was not fooled by a poll from Softcat on 1 April asking whether it should change its name to Softdog.