Eight-month old value added IT reseller sees growth in the millions
2/27/2009 9:52:00 AM By: Maxine Cheung

Eight months was all it took for Coreen Bouchard to start her own Ottawa-based value added IT reseller business, PureLogic IT. In that short time it has grown into a $2.5-million company.

Bouchard, the CEO of PureLogic IT, said to CDN that her educational and occupational background comprises a diploma in business administration and various sales roles with companies such as Novatech and TeraMach. She says her industry experience in the IT VAR community spans the course of seven years, at which point she eventually decided she was ready for a change.

Bouchard, who was only 29 years old at the time, with no experience in running a business, began researching and reconnecting with her contacts, which later led to the birth of PureLogic IT last June.

“I started the company from the ground up,” Bouchard said. “I talked about my go-to-market strategy with clients, distribution communities, manufacturers and the government sector to sell products and services. After about two and a half months of research and applying for business licenses, getting certifications and credit lines established, I had my first sale in about three months.”

For its first year of operation based on a 12-month period, Bouchard says the company had a goal of reaching $2.5 million in the first year. Within five months of starting the business, the company was already profitable, she said, and is currently well on track to its first year’s goal. Business goals for the second year is $4 million and for its third year, PureLogic IT is striving for $6 million.

PureLogic IT, Bouchard explains, is a value added IT reseller that services primarily the Ottawa and Toronto areas, particularly in the data centre space. Some of the company’s solution focus areas include: servers, virtualization, storage architecture, data deduplication, networking, tiered  storage and professional services. The company’s customers include a mix of both the commercial and federal government, as well as other government agencies across the country.

Including herself, PureLogic IT has five employees, two of which are sales agents who work in the field. The company has also established various business-to-business relationships with other professional services organizations and manufacturer partners to go to market, Bouchard explains. There are plans to add one or two people to the PureLogic IT staff before the end of this year, with the possibility of adding more if the business allows, she adds. Despite the current economic recession, Bouchard says PureLogic IT’s business continues to thrive. Sign up for our Computer Dealer News Newsletter.

(UPDATED with reaction from HP) Cisco Systems is dumping Hewlett-Packard from its partner program, and HP is dumping Cisco switches for QLogic, as the once partners become fierce rivals.
2/19/2010 10:58:00 AM By: Jeff Jedras and Paolo Del Nibletto.

It remains to be seen how it will play-out on the services side. Noting, however, that 10-years post-Y2K there is a massive infrastructure renewal opportunity looming, it is an opportunity for HP to gain market share for its own infrastructure offerings via its enlarged services business. However, he notes HP should also be leary, as it's an opportunity as well as for competitors such as IBM to fill that void with Cisco offerings.

“There is a tipping-point, and the data centre is up for grabs,” said Alexander. “It's game on.”

Partner reaction is mixed

The reaction from Canadian VAR partners of the two vendors to the news is mixed. Ottawa-based PureLogic IT Solutions is both an HP and a Cisco partner, and president Coreen Bouchard would like more information from both vendors on what this all means.

“PureLogic IT resold HP Blade Centre, which has many Cisco networking modules. We procured it from HP and it worked really well for us and our customers,” said Bouchard. “This decision will have an effect on our customers. I would like to know what happens next in terms of an exit strategy and support strategy. I really need to know".

For David Chow, president Ottawa-based Stoneworks Technologies and also both an HP and Cisco partner, the parting of Cisco and HP comes at a bad time as his company moves into unified communications.

“While I understand this move because it creates competition, I also believe that it was creating brand loyalty in the channel. What they are doing is creating some bad feelings towards those who rep both sides,” said Chow. “They're forcing us to choose one or the other and quietly putting pressure on the reseller to go with us or them. I do not think it's fair to ask those who make sales for these companies to do that.”

It's seen as a good move though by Pierre Salbaing, owner of Montreal-based Services Avance Reseaux, a Cisco gold partner, who calls it a courageous decision for Cisco to drop a company that may be its largest worldwide UC reseller.

“What it means is that HP has real competitive solutions to Cisco and it may signal to partners that there's another networking and services player up against Cisco. It could be a good plan B,” said Salbaing. “This is a rare decision for a company like Cisco who embraces partners like no other. To make a change to its partner base like this one it says that HP has maybe the best option against Cisco.