Don't Call It a Marketplace: Exclusive Networks Launches On-Demand IT Service for Partners

Europe-based distributor Exclusive Networks just introduced an on-demand delivery channel for its cybersecurity and infrastructure products and services.

The firm says X-OD (Exclusive Networks on Demand) helps partners meet the market need for opex-based IT consumption.

New Exclusive CEO Jesper Trolle unveiled the on-demand service. He said it accelerates the move to the consumption-based models customers are demanding.

Exclusive Networks’ Jesper Trolle

“This is all about taking the burden away from our vendors and our partners,” said Trolle. “It will provide one seamless way to consume [technology], regardless of how it’s bought or sold by the vendor.”

X-OD is available now in the U.K., Netherlands and France. The firm will extend the service to Belgium, Spain, Germany, Finland, Ireland and Austria on Nov. 1. It will then roll out X-OD to the rest of its territories in 2021.

Exclusive maintains X-OD is different from a distributor marketplace, describe it instead as “a true, non-proprietary platform.” It enables integration of multiple vendors’ hardware and software with the partner’s services or third-party products at the point of consumption.

“It is delivered as a unified, simplified, blended product/service/price/proposition, and with multitudes of subscription choices,” it said.

Exclusive will provide X-OD free of charge to enable partners to create their own subscription platform service. This, it says, enables them to forgo the investment and resources associated with rebuilding their products and services delivery.

The distributor also adds that X-OD can buy capex from vendors but deliver it as opex to the customer through the partner, “thereby breaking the roadblock that currently exists between traditional vendor business models and changing consumption needs.”

Pilot phases of the on-demand service were completed in the summer ahead of the launch. They featured three vendors from Exclusive’s portfolio: Palo Alto Networks, Proofpoint and Google Cloud’s Chronicle.

Avoiding Pitfalls

Trolle joined Exclusive last month after spending 15 years at Arrow. He most recently was president of Arrow ECS Americas. He said he always admired Exclusive’s “appetite and a hunger to continue to innovate and disrupt.”

Trolle added his experience running “a double-digit billion-dollar business” and driving growth “would be a big benefit” to Exclusive.

“I’ve seen what works, and more importantly, what doesn’t,” he said. “This will allow us to grow faster while avoiding some of the pitfalls I’ve experienced in the past.”

He also revealed that instead of laying off staff during COVID-19, Exclusive increased employee numbers by up to 15%.