Specialism: Emerging tech and tailspend management
Vendors include: Vimeo, LastPass, Bose, Kamunda, Kollective, Jamf, Nitro, Realware
Revenue: £81m (+13%)
Headcount: 75
Displaying Softcat, SCC, CDW and Computacenter among the customer logos on its website, ASM positions itself an expert in tail spend management and emerging tech distribution.
The Cheshire-based distributor saw revenues rise 13% to £81m in its year to 31 December 2021, £61.3m of which was drawn from the UK.
“I would expect to see growth in technologies such as synthetic data and digital twins”
Quickfire Q&A with Sales Director Iain Tomkinson
What’s an obscure fact about ASM, or you personally, most people won’t know?
I was road crew for a rock band before I got into IT, and had the opportunity to tour the US with the band. I turned it down to focus on a career in tech, the band went on a US tour and cut the tour short due to running out of funding and the band split shortly after. My career in tech was a good call, and probably just as much fun over the years.
Just how tough is it in the market right now?
Thankfully we are continuing to see growth. There’s more pressure on margins, however our ecosystem of emerging tech vendors and disruptive offerings is delivering real opportunities for our partners, delivering savings and optimisation for end customers.
What bright spots are you seeing?
Emerging and disruptive tech is an exciting space, from AI to cyber security. The demand for innovation continues to gain momentum.
What’s been your high point of the last 12 months?
Growing our team, seeing promotions within the business and new roles been created. Getting back in front of partners on a regular basis is a bonus.
Name one thing ASM does better than anyone else…
Giving partners access to an ecosystem of emerging tech vendors through our tail spend offering. There’s no one that can deliver across software, hardware and services across Europe with the efficiency, commercial innovation and reliability that we offer.
What’s been the biggest development or news story in UK IT distribution so far in 2023?
The merger with Westcoast and KOMSA has created the largest privately owned alliance in Europe – a great opportunity for both organisations.
Which technology area or vendor are you betting big on for H2 2023?
AI is obviously the most talked about technology of recent years with huge disruption potential, that’s a given. I would expect to see growth in technologies such as synthetic data and digital twins continuing to demonstrate value in healthcare, finance and legal sectors.
The analysts see distribution becoming increasingly characterised by cloud and marketplaces. Is that reflected in the evolution of your own business?
I would agree in the broadline space, however in our emerging tech space channel and building relationships and brand is key to the evolution and success of any vendor, where distribution plays exceptionally well.
Can you give us a prediction on how the distribution sector will evolve over the next 12 months?
More and more specialist vendors wanting access to UK and European markets will continue to drive success among the more specialist distributors with a focus on growth disruptive plays. Exclusive Networks and Distology are great examples of this.
