The distributor market is changing, with an increasing need to provide more than just fulfilment, but Exertis Enterprise is positioning itself to be at the vanguard of this trend to help customers in the most comprehensive way possible.
It has been a busy year for Exertis Enterprise, culminating recently in its Summit in Barcelona. Here, Jason Chibnall from Exertis Enterprise talks to News in the Channel about how the company is evolving to cope with new demands from the market.
News in the Channel: The Exertis Enterprise Summit was held recently – how did that go?
Jason Chibnall: The Summit in Barcelona marked our first such event in more than eight years, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Longstanding customers and partners told us it was the best event we’ve ever run. It was a great platform to showcase our culture and capabilities, and customers and vendors appreciated the scale of our organisation and our commitment to making relationships work.
We had 232 attendees across customers, vendors and Exertis staff, and managed to strike the right tone across a diverse agenda. Whether attendees were focused on enterprise-class components, full-stack solutions, or cybersecurity, the content resonated. A key takeaway was the appetite for more – many asked when we’ll host the next one.
Q: How has 2025 been for Exertis Enterprise so far – what have been the highlights?
JC: Trading conditions have remained as challenging as they were at the end of 2024, but we’re holding strong against our targets and budget expectations. What’s exciting is the scale of some of the new opportunities we’re seeing — deals that could significantly impact our performance.
We’ve also undergone some internal transformation. Tom Cox joined as UK sales director, bringing fresh initiatives that will reshape our sales organisation. In cybersecurity, we’ve reorganised into focused specialities – from perimeter and endpoint protection to network optimisation and backup – allowing us to scale more effectively and serve customers with real expertise in each area.
Q: What are the current trends in the market and how is Exertis Enterprise helping customers to capitalise on them?
JC: AI is the obvious headline trend. Everyone is talking about it, but many end users are still figuring out how to integrate AI into their businesses. That’s where we come in – helping customers design the infrastructure needed to support AI workloads and offering strategic guidance to enable their adoption.
AI also has knock-on effects across storage, due to massive data generation, and cybersecurity with solutions becoming more intelligent and also needing to defend against AI-driven threats. We’re positioning ourselves as a value-added partner that can deliver components and the end-to-end solutions that support innovation.
Q: How is Exertis Enterprise innovating to stay ahead of the competition?
JC: We’ve always been an outcomes-driven distributor, focused on solving real business problems with real technical expertise. To build on this, we’re investing in specialisation across Europe – not just selling a broad portfolio, but dedicating people to solutions, components, networking, infrastructure and security.
To support this, we’re launching a sales enablement programme across our European teams. Every commercial and sales professional is being trained in a consultative, value-led approach. It’s about enhancing the customer experience and truly differentiating ourselves from traditional distribution models.
Q: A big theme from this year’s Summit was solution selling. Do you think the role of the distributor is changing, and how is Exertis Enterprise positioning itself to lead the way?
JC: Distribution is polarising. On one side, you have efficiency-led distributors that focus on high-volume, transactional business. On the other, you have value-added distributors like us, who use expertise to deliver incremental value.
As technology becomes more complex – particularly with AI and multi-layered IT infrastructure – the need for distributors that offer more than just fulfilment is growing. Our role is evolving to deliver that added value, guiding MSPs and resellers through complexity and helping them win with complete solutions.
Q:How is AI affecting what Exertis Enterprise does, and how can MSPs and the wider channel embrace it?
JC: AI still relies on core infrastructure – servers (now increasingly GPU-based), high-speed storage, and ultra-low latency networking. While these are familiar technologies, the stack around them is evolving rapidly.
To help MSPs and the channel succeed, we provide not just hardware but insight into the AI software stacks, frameworks and ecosystems that make AI usable. In some cases, that means forming strategic alliances with AI solutions partners. Our approach is to bridge infrastructure with capability – helping partners and customers turn AI ambition into tangible results.
Q: What are your plans for Exertis Enterprise for the rest of 2025 and into 2026?
JC: We’re shifting from being a UK-centric organisation to a pan-European leader. In 2025, we’re piloting this evolution in the Netherlands, establishing independent, specialist teams across solutions, components, cybersecurity and networking – supported by technical and commercial management.
The goal is to build self-sufficient, knowledge-led teams that can scale and replicate across other regions. If the model proves successful in the Netherlands, we’ll expand it across Europe – and potentially beyond – to drive growth, gain market share and stay ahead in a rapidly changing landscape.
