This distribution chain is a vital part of doing business with corporate buyers and public sector organisations.
The relationships that form the basis of technology distribution and sales are based on factors such as trust, technical expertise, operational reach and of course sales connections with end users.
At Astel, we work very closely with a range of leading global technology vendors.
In this article we showcase our relationship with Utimaco, recently named by ABI Research as “overall leader in the HSM market” in its latest competitive assessment of the HSM (Hardware Security Module) space.
History of the relationship between Astel and Utimaco
Astel originally came to the attention of Utimaco in 2018.
Having been impressed with Astel’s operations and the work we were doing with other vendors in the territory, a senior Utimaco executive felt that Astel could be an ideal partner for them.
At the same time, Astel felt there was a strong and complementary fit for Utimaco within its existing portfolio of technology vendors. They also envisaged that Utimaco would have the potential to upscale and become an important world class player in the HSM market.
Following the initial approach, negotiations started in September 2018 between Astel’s Directors and the senior management team at Utimaco. This resulted in the signing of a Distributor Contract on 31st October 2018 at Utimaco’s headquarters in Germany, in the presence of then CEO Malte Polman.
The relationship between Astel and Utimaco today
Utimaco has grown significantly since 2018 when the distribution deal with Astel was signed.
With the acquisition firstly of the Atalla AT1000 payment HSM, Utimaco can now challenge any other HSM vendor. Secondly the MYSHM acquisition has added a further boost, enabling them to capture a different and upcoming market segment via a fully managed, Payment HSM service.
Yuvraj Jobanputra, CEO of Astel says of the relationship:
“With more than 30 years of trading and providing expertise to a cross section of clients in Africa, Astel is proud to be an Utimaco Distributor. We value this partnership and look forward to many more years of success together in serving customers across the Africa region.”
How does the Utimaco relationship benefit Astel clients?
Astel’s mission is to work with leading technology vendors so that it can bring a set of robust and reliable IT solutions, services and technologies to its customers.
The criteria used by Astel in selecting its vendors partners include:
- Solution benefits for customers
- Technical credibility
- Resources such as technical support and sales and marketing support
- Price points and competitive position
- Product/technology development roadmap.
Similarly, Utimaco want to be sure that in selecting a distributor, they will be working with a company that can represent them in their target markets with credibility and professionalism to grow their presence. This is what they saw – and continue to see – in Astel.
Astel customers, can rely on the fact that that Astel has fully evaluated Utimaco’s technology and has both trust and confidence in Utimaco’s support infrastructure, its supply chain and its planned future developments.
Award Winning Utimaco
In 2022, Global technology intelligence firm ABI Research named Utimaco “overall leader in the HSM market” in its latest competitive assessment of the HSM (Hardware Security Module) space.
According to ABI, following an assessment of six HSM vendors, Utimaco was named market leader because of its:
- Complete and diverse range of HSM offerings
- Realisation of a vision for a converged HSM platform offering for all applications
- Focus on operational matters including how the applications can be customised, deployed and managed in line with evolving customer needs.
Utimaco’s solutions serve all types of applications across a range of price points and are available in various form factors. They offer cryptographic capabilities in encryption, key authentication, hashes, named curves and RNG.
Furthermore, Utimaco’s HSMs can be easily configured through numerous software and firmware stacks, both for general purpose and payment applications. Its application loading flexibility, which enables clients to mix and change applications throughout the life of their HSM use, and to extend naturally into cloud deployments.
The Atalla AT1000
Utimaco’s comprehensive portfolio includes a broad range of payment and other general purpose HSM solutions which enable customers to support any combination of firmware and software options across on-premises, cloud and hybrid deployments.
The Atalla AT1000 is the number one payments HSM solution for crypto security in the Americas and Asia. It can deliver:
- Unrivalled payment security
- Operational efficiencies
- Options for an on-premises deployment or a fully managed, Payment HSM service
- Reduced total cost of ownership
- Global support for all card schemes.
Next steps
To learn more about the benefits and features of the Atalla AT1000, to discuss migration, installation and deployment or for any other questions, please feel free to contact Astel on +44 20 8453 0400 (UK) or info@astel-africa.com
