Speaking ahead of the announcement, Jesper Trolle (pictured below), CEO at Exclusive Networks, explained, “Like for other companies, 2020 certainly bought a lot of challenges and disruption to the way we used to work and engage with our partners and our vendors across the world. I’m proud to say that, despite all of this, we are announcing record sales and record profits. I don’t take any of this for granted, as I step back and look at 2020, it has been a truly remarkable year.”
The company achieved an 8 per cent organic uplift in sales, as well as expanding its global footprint and skills base through three strategic acquisitions. The launch of X-OD – an on-demand, subscription-based delivery platform for vendor solutions and professional services – helped contribute to a record year in revenues and operating income.
Brexit impact
When asked about whether Brexit had caused any difficulties, Trolle said, “We saw a little bit of an impact at the end of the year, which was mainly about deals being postponed. The good news was a lot of the deals that were anticipated at the end of the yea, came in at the beginning of the new year instead. But outside of that, we haven’t really seen a lot of impact from Brexit outside of normal FX volatility and what have you.”
Trolle added, “Moving on to 2021, earlier this year we ran our global kick off and here I could unveil our new vision of a total trusted digital world for all people and organisations. For me, this is a noble vision that gives the company a strong sense of purpose.”
The role of the Channel
The Channel plays a vital role in the company’s strategy. Trolle said, “The Channel matters. There’s been a lot of talk over the past few years about the challenge facing the Channel. Some have even predicted the demise of the Channel, with cloud marketplaces meaning the Channel is being bypassed. Could the Channel adapt to selling ‘as a service’? Does the Channel know how to play a role in the subscription economy? Well, we’re here to say that the Channel matters and there are still significant opportunities for all of us ahead. But it does need specialisation, and we have to continue to evolve together to stay relevant.”
He explained that channel companies can ensure their relevancy by growing their skills and knowledge, and by “meeting customers on their buying journey” – whether that’s online or through more traditional procurement methods. With more than 1,300 cybersecurity vendors available, the channel can “pull this together into solutions” and help end customers “make sense of it all”.
He concluded, “As more and more customers increasingly chose to deploy enterprise technology as a subscription, there is a growing need for the Channel to focus on customer success and retention by making sure solutions are adequately implemented and fully utilised to predict and avoid any future customer churn. We are committed to providing the tools, the knowledge, the skills, and the capabilities needed for our partners to stay ahead and grow their relevancy – both in the traditional but also in the digital-first world.”