Deepening memory shortages will hand Softcat the whip hand over its peers because it will be given priority by vendors and distributors, its CEO has predicted as he reflected on its first £2bn-sales half-year.
Talking to IT Channel Oxygen following its latest market-busting results, Graham Charlton also claimed the UK’s largest IT reseller has a “powerful package” for the burgeoning AI channel opportunity.
The LSE-listed giant saw first-half gross invoiced income, gross profit and underlying operating profit advance 33.3%, 22.6% and 27.3% to £2.01bn, £269.9m and £93.8m year on year, respectively, topping even its own expectations.
“There are some contractual issues to resolve”
Asked about the deepening memory shortage, Charlton predicted Softcat will increase its marketshare however it plays out.
“We’re the biggest player in the UK, so we’re going to get priority from the disties and the vendors. We can get good outcomes for our customers however it plays out, and that will give us an advantage,” he said.
Despite this, Charlton acknowledged recent moves by HPE and Cisco to open the door to post-PO price rises has left Softcat and other channel partners with a contractual headache.
“We can’t give the customer certainty if the vendor is not giving us certainty on price,” he said.
“With some of the frameworks, we’re going to have to create workarounds and carve-out situations, whatever it will be. There are some contractual issues to resolve there.”
“This is the beginning of a golden age”
In his results commentary, Charlton claimed Softcat’s skills have “never been more relevant”, and linked this partly to demand for AI.
Having initially been confined largely to direct-buying hyperscalers, AI growth is now starting to trickle down into the channel, Charlton said.
“I think this is the beginning of a golden age for capable channel partners to help customers and vendors grow,” he said.
“And that’s why I think Softcat, with the investment we’ve made and capability we’ve got, it’s a really powerful package for what’s about to happen in the infrastructure space over the coming years.”
Full interview with Charlton begins on following page….
