Smee aims for growth

Channel stalwart Grahame Smee has completed his acquisition of virtualisation and storage specialist AppSpeed, and has revealed ambitious plans for the firm.

Smee, who is now acting as managing director for both distributors, said the Appspeed staff were transferred into Cohort’s offices earlier this month.

According to Smee, the Appspeed name still exists with its own sales and services team, but the two companies share back office functions.

Going forward Cohort will continue to specialise in security, and AppSpeed in storage and virtualisation.

Smee said: “We have identified some areas where we can do unique things in the virtualisation market, including virtualisation starter kits for small and mid-market companies to help them make the transition from physical to virtual environments.

“A lot of small firms see virtualisation and want to get involved because they know it saves them money and power, but they don’t know how to do it. We will take away the mystique and deliver the configuration through our resellers,” he said.

Smee said the two firms will also be signing new vendors in the coming months, bulking up their vendor accreditation training, and will be growing the headcount on both sides.

“As we grow there is going to be new investment in both Appspeed and Cohort,” he added.