Ingram Buys Network Security Training Company
The Santa Ana-based distributor is also making an investment in security networking product distributor Securematics, Santa Clara, Calif. Ingram would not disclose the terms of either transaction.
High-end networking security training was a natural evolution for Ingram Micro as it moves towards a more solutions-based distribution model, said Ken Bast, vice president of vendor management for the distributor.
"When you're selling complex solutions like high-end network security part of the solution, more and more are requiring training, so it's something that more and more of the customers are asking for. We're definitely always looking to expand into technologies that have high-growth and have the opportunities to provide more of a value-added service," Bast said. "We think training is an important part of the solution and that's where we're driving it."
He also expects the acquisition to be lucrative. "We're looking for faster than our normal rate of growth for our other businesses. That's well into the double-digits," Bast said.
"This is definitely a growing business. There's a lot of upside on this. There may even be some other vendor manufacturer partners that we add to the line card, but that's probably more in the 60- to 90-day plan," he said.
Ingram will run VPN Dynamics, based in Santa Clara, Calif., as a wholly-owned subsidiary, and the company will keep its brand, headquarters and staff.
The distributor's minority-stake investment in Securematics, founded by Pradeep Aswani, will help the security distributor grow, said Bast. "Certain of their vendor and reseller partners purchase from them because they are a minority-owned business. We made the minority investment so that they could maintain their status as a minority distributor and continue to service those vendors and those reseller partners in their own way, and it gives them the capital to continue to grow."