Bechtle : expands IT alliance to Russia and Turkey.

Neckarsulm, 5 July 2017 - Bechtle AG has expanded its global network by yet another partner, Softline Group, which was founded in 1993 and has offices in 30 countries. This newest member of the Global IT Alliance opens the door to markets in Turkey, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In 2016, the systems integrator generated a revenue of 1 billion US dollars. It currently employs more than 3,900 people serving 60,000 private and public-sector customers. An extensive test phase was conducted prior to signing the partnership agreement, with highly satisfactory results. Headquartered in Moscow, Softline focuses primarily on emerging markets, where it has seen rapid growth.

The Global IT Alliance (GITA) has increased its coverage worldwide by admitting Softline into the fold. The network currently encompasses Atea (Scandinavia and the Baltic states), Compucentro (Mexico), Connection (USA), Datacentrix (South Africa), Data#3 (Australia), JBS (Japan), JOS (China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore and other parts of Asia), Lexel (New Zealand) and Microware (Brazil). This latest partnership now enables GITA also to serve Turkey, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, which includes Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Belarus, Romania, Georgia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Moldavia. As a leading IT solutions and service provider, Softline offers a broad portfolio of products and services, partnering with all major vendors.

Shared values and standards

'We are very pleased to join forces with Softline, a reliable partner whose membership allows GITA to strengthen its coverage in all key markets,' states Jürgen Schäfer, member of the Executive Board responsible for Bechtle AG's IT E-Commerce segment. 'This cooperation opens the door to important regions such as Russia and Turkey. In addition, Softline shares our values and standards, further underlining its valuable contribution to our Global IT Alliance.' An extensive pilot project conducted before the partnership was solidified evidenced the broad overlap in Softline's service quality, expertise and corporate culture with those of other GITA members.

International IT community

'Joining the Global IT Alliance has given Softline Group an outstanding opportunity to partner with an international community,' notes Igor Borovikov, Chairman of the Board of Softline. 'We alone have locations in 30 countries throughout the world. But together with other leading IT partners within the network, we will now be able to support even complex, global IT projects.' Softline's comprehensive portfolio of cloud solutions includes IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, virtualisation, collaboration, security and mobility. In addition, the company offers licensing solutions, training, asset management and managed services. Bechtle is currently also trialling an extension of the collaboration to Softline sites in Latin America.