Integralis downgraded in Clearswift shake up

Integralis downgraded in Clearswift shake up


Content security vendor Clearswift looks set to part company with its largest reseller, Integralis, as it focuses on partners committed to generating new business.

Clearswift sent an email to Integralis last month informing the integrator of its intention to downgrade its status from a top-level Premium to Registered partner. The vendor is also discussing the status of several other Premium resellers.

Paul Lloyd, regional manager of UK and Ireland at Clearswift, said: “We sat down with our eight Premium resellers to find out if they were willing to move forward with us. A lot of partners just wanted to process renewals and were not developing new accounts. The conversation we had with Integralis was within that framework.”

Integralis, which is thought to manage 650,000 seats for Clearswift, said it is keen to focus on rival vendor IronPort and will sever all ties with Clearswift by the end of 2008.

Graham Jones, chief operating officer at Integralis, said: “We had a meeting with Clearswift in November, after which it sent us an email saying it was downgrading us.

“We will stay Registered and maintain our user base, but will phase out Clearswift by the end of next year. The market is consolidating and we have to choose the core vendors best-suited to our pan-European portfolio and those that have a clear channel strategy.”

Lloyd said four Premium resellers ­ MIS Corporate Defence Solutions, Netstore, Foursys and Softcat ­ have committed to moving forward with Clearswift as top-tier partners.