•   Revenues of top 250 ICT resellers and solution providers grew by 24.6 per cent last year to £43.7 Billion
•   Demand for virtualisation, security and unified communications technologies driving growth
•   IT Europa announces the “Premier 250” – the top 250 UK IT and Communications Resellers - for 2008

(LONDON, UK - 19 August 2008) Larger Resellers and Solution Providers have considerably outgrown the market over the last year and are poised to continue their success. Revenues of the top 250 resellers grew by 24.6% in 2007 to £43.7 Billion (€55.9 Billion), well above the industry average growth rate for Europe of 4.3% (EITO).

While part of the rise was the result of continued consolidation within the sector, evidenced by a number of significant mergers and acquisitions, there was also strong growth in demand for a number of specific technologies such as virtualisation, security and unified communications.

These are some of the conclusions drawn from the 2008 UK ICT Premier 250 database report which is published today by IT Europa, the leading European channel intelligence organisation. The report provides detailed profiles of the top 250 resellers of information and communication technologies in the UK by revenue.

IT Europa's Managing Director, Alan Norman, commented: “There are a number of trends currently driving the quite astonishing growth we are seeing in this sector. The growing importance of the indirect sales model and the increasing importance of solutions and services are both important contributing factors. Much of the merger and acquisition activity we are seeing in this space is being driven by customer demand for broader, more integrated, solutions and to expand support coverage.”

The UK ICT Premier 250 database report was researched during June and July 2008 and developed based on detailed interviews with the organisations involved. Although the “credit crunch” is beginning to concern a number of organisations, most felt that the ICT market was strong and are forecasting continued growth for the next 12 months. Another issue emerging from the interviews is a growing skills shortage, but this has been proving most acute within IT departments, leading to a further increase in demand for managed services.

The IT Europa UK ICT Premier 250 database report provides detailed profiles of the top 250 UK ICT resellers (including sales breakdowns, key contacts, customer segments, partners etc.) The report is available now from IT Europa (www.iteuropa.com) at £1495.