QBS opens up on new distributor plans
Europe’s largest software delivery platform has launched Orchestra to propel hypergrowth vendors into the European channel
By its own admission QBS has been a difficult company to categorise and fit into a traditional channel box, but the launch of its new dedicated channel distribution business will drive growth into new markets and open up opportunities for its partners.
Launched this week, and known as Orchestra - the new business will operate on the QBS Software Platform and is confident it will offer significant opportunities to its channel partners. The business will be run by Joshua Nicholls (pictured), who boasts extensive experience in both channel and corporate roles, most recently at a subsidiary of Bain & Co.
Nicholls explained that Orchestra has been working closely with five vendors who have received funding from US-based venture capital firm Insight Partners. Insight Partners has invested in more than 600 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. He added they had worked together to identify the best partnership opportunities from Insight Partner's portfolio, and as a result selected five key launch vendor partners - Keeper Security, Automox, DNS Filter, Octopus Deploy and CoreView.
"It is an exciting time to be working with these vendors that have been very successful in the US and are now looking to significantly grow their European market," he said. "We are looking forward to showing what a next generation distributor can do and are keen to partner with system integrators, MSPs and resellers that are interested in the cybersecurity, Microsoft365 management and the DevOps space."
"We expect these vendors to take off, Insight Partners have an incredible track record of success and the launch of Orchestra will amplify this" Nicholls added. "There is a challenge in the channel - vendors are everywhere - but many are coming to market insufficiently funded. Our five vendors have already been externally validated and will bring huge value to our partner base."
Dave Stevinson, CEO of QBS Technology Group, said the time was right for the QBS platform to launch a dedicated distribution business to complement its core channel marketplace operations.
"Our platform is at the heart of what we do, and I acknowledge that we have been and will continue to be a difficult company to categorise," he said. "We have already made a series of investments and acquisitions in recent years, but now we have decided to start a new dedicated distribution business - a green-field start up - focusing on the hyper growth Insight Partners portfolio companies."
"We believe the time is right - there are obvious gaps in the distribution space and we have identified the position for Orchestra - our message is all about engagement, energising and empowerment of our partners."
Stevinson explained how vendor selection was critical to launch.
"We will be working with five hyper growth, next-generation vendors that fit our stack. These companies have just received a huge level of investment and can execute hyper growth - we are talking treble digit growth. Our vendor partners will not just be channel friendly, they will be channel obsessed and will empower their partners to sell."
To learn more about Orchestra, visit its new website www.qbsorchestra.com
The distributor is also running a launch webinar on 20 October to explain the many opportunities it can offer potential channel partners. To find out more and to register for the webinar - click here.