Greg and Scott's start-up venture is on cloud nine
By Paula Elliott • Published 7 Nov 2011 09:30
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Greg Harris is founder of start-up company Cloud Distribution, a Value Added Distributor that focuses on the security, management and optimisation of devices that access the Cloud.
This new venture is based in serviced offices in Theale, near Reading and after only two years of trading has doubled in size year-on-year.
When asked what the motivation was in setting up Cloud Distribution at the height of the recession in 2009, Greg replies: "I find start-ups an exciting environment to be in - especially if you are a new player in a new market as we are.
"New and disruptive technology markets require a fair degree of flexibility, a little bit of making it up as you go along and the need to be able to respond quickly to changing market dynamics.
"Large corporate organisations are often not as responsive to the nuances of an early stage market as the smaller players. It is a bit like comparing an oil tanker to a speed boat. Large companies tend to flow into a market after that initial ramp-up period, when there are huge volumes to be had.
"Yes you have to navigate fairly choppy waters in an early adopter phase of any service or product, but I firmly believe that it is the smaller players that are the market makers."
Ample experience
Greg and his business partner Scott Dobson both have extensive experience in the IT security and optimisation space. Greg has enjoyed a successful career selling to enterprise clients working with the likes of iPass, Nokia, Equinet, Motorola and Azlan. Ownership of the business is 50 to 50 or 'straight down the middle' as Greg would say.
When asked about the overall plan or vision for the business and whether Cloud Distribution is looking for an injection of funds, Greg has strong views: "Like anyone we love and cherish Cloud Distribution because it is our own and we don't want to give any of it away or lose any control. There are a myriad of different ways to grow a business.
"For now, we want to keep it under our control. This is because we have a clear vision of what and where we want the business to be. If you bring in outside finance this can often change the shape and direction of the company, however, that doesn't mean to say that it won't happen at some point."
Wireless LAN Technology
As the sole UK Distributor for Meraki, a leading vendor in Cloud networking providing wireless LAN and security products, Greg is confident that the UK and Ireland can fulfil the ambitions of the company for now. He is keen not to overstretch the business and would rather stay focused with a select number of vendors.
Greg continues: "We don't want to find that we are under resourced, under financed or not delivering the service that we know our customers need.
"We are at the early adopter stage of the market. Therefore, the cost of sale is still relatively high and we have to work closely with customers, resellers and vendors to help move the business forward. It therefore makes sense for us to stay in the geography that we are in working with the vendors that we have today."
A case in point
And this is certainly the case for Wellington College based in Berkshire. Described by the Daily Telegraph A Level League Table for 2011 as Britain's leading co-educational boarding school.
Wellington College has just implemented a Meraki wireless LAN capability across the college enabling students, teachers and visitors to access the network from anywhere within the college.
Implemented by Cloud Distribution's reseller partner Synetix, this project has been a huge success and is a great example of the innovative technology that Cloud Distribution is providing.
Resourcing For Success
Where resources are concerned, Greg says that the dilemma is always one of whether to invest upfront or wait, and he concludes that it is probably a mixture of the two. In fact, the company is just about to sign with a new vendor iViZ security and in this instance Cloud Distribution has actually worked on the basis of a shared joint funded head to help drive sales of this product.
Greg says: "We would like to see the business grow to £2.5 million and we need to make sure that we have the right resources in place to support this growth. That means premises and people. The good news is that the market we are addressing is growing - even in these troubled times."
With three children, Greg admits that to a certain extent money motivates him, but the overriding driver is to take a technology like Meraki and turn it into an opportunity.
He concludes: "We started talking to Meraki in October 2009, just one month after we set up the company. We finally signed Meraki up in March 2010 - it took six months to convince them to come to the UK.
"Since then, we have built a channel of 70 resellers, rolled out to major end users customers and have really proved that there is a solid opportunity here in the UK. So for me it is all about building something from nothing - we're making a market and that is extremely satisfying."
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