Specialism: Cloud, comms and IT
Key vendors: Microsoft, BT, Sky, VMO2, Vodafone, CityFibre, Acronis, Barracuda, Bitdefender, PXC
Revenue runrate: £500m
Headcount: 800
Styling itself as a ‘cloud marketplace’, this cloud, comms and IT distributor jumps two places in our rundown, partly on the back of its recent intY acquisition (it’s also just announced another acquisition, of billing specialist, Inform Billing).
According to numbers it shared with us, Giacom’s revenue runrate now stands at £500m (its top line hit £355.1m in its latest filed accounts for its year to 31 March 2023).
Inflexion-backed Giacom has its roots in Daisy, spinning out of the comms giant in 2021.
Its December 2023 acquisition of Microsoft licensing specialist intY added £65m-£70m in revenues, 80-90 staff in Bristol, and over 1,200 MSP partners, CEO Terry O’Brien told us in May.
“We’d like our MSP partners to include telco as a part of their managed services mix”
Q&A with Giacom CTO Nathan Marke
What is Giacom’s sweet spot?
Supporting channel technology providers who serve the SMB marketplace. We specialise in helping these partners build comms, cloud and hardware solutions, as well as managed services, enabling them to drive growth and operate efficiently through our technology platform.
Which product, service or vendor has stood out for you in 2024?
For us, 2024 has been less about supply and more about the evolving demand landscape. SMBs are increasingly seeking strategic partners to manage their entire IT and comms infrastructure, a shift we refer to as The Rise of the MSP. This trend has accelerated significantly this year, with successful MSPs transforming their business models to offer all-inclusive, per-user, per-month subscription services. This shift is largely driven by ongoing cloud transformation and heightened security needs.
If you could change one thing about your business at the stroke of a wand, what would it be?
We would like our MSP partners to include telco as a part of their managed services mix. It’s a huge opportunity to build on the services they already provide, enhancing loyalty and creating greater stickiness with their clients.
When will the UK distribution market return to growth?
We didn’t realise it wasn’t. Giacom has continued to grow at double digits thanks to the amazing performance of the UK channel. We see this opportunity continuing as MSPs continue to win market share from the big technology vendors, retailers and telcos.
Name one area of your business where you are expecting to add staff in 2025
Security.
At its Channel Forums EMEA in October, Canalys characterised AWS Marketplace as one of the world’s largest distributors, owing to its growing third-party software business. On balance, do you agree?
We agree. However, let’s be clear: the channel needs its distribution partners to offer more than just a faceless technology proposition. Our focus is on how we can deliver added value to our partners, helping them not just sell the in-vogue technology, but also to build a sustainable valuable business based on quality revenues streams.
If you could undertake a secret, two-week apprenticeship at another distributor to see how they roll, which would you choose?
One of the hyperscalers. Spending a couple of weeks with them to see first-hand how they drive change rapidly and at scale would be fascinating.
See who made the wider Oxygen 50 Must-Know IT Distributors 2024 here.
