CRN Exclusive: Logicalis Hires Avaya, EMC Vet To Expand Financial Services Practice

Logicalis has scaled up its financial services team as it looks to customize offers for clients interested in adopting cloud, managed service and as-a-Service business models.

The Slough, U.K.-based company, No. 30 on the CRN Solution Provider 500, hired Paul Christensen, an industry veteran with experience providing financial services to Avaya and EMC clients, to spearhead Logicalis' fast-growing North American financial services practice.

Christensen will serve as North American director for Logicalis Financial Services as the organization looks to increase top-line revenue, income, mind share and wallet share with customers.

[RELATED: Logicalis Buys 21-Person Microsoft Communications Powerhouse]

"For a long period of time, equipment finance companies would dictate what a customer should be doing," Christensen told CRN in an exclusive interview. "Now, we're listening to the customer."

Logicalis' differentiator will be creating financial services offerings that align with the needs and wants of specific customers rather than offering the same pre-fabricated options to everyone, Christensen said. The company is capable of supporting cash purchases, pure utility or consumption-based offerings, or anything in between, Christensen said.

Financing options available through Logicalis include a financing lease – which allows end users to own the equipment at the end of the term – and an operating lease – which the company said is better for clients anticipating rapid growth or changes in technology requirements. Logicalis will also lock in maintenance costs for three years and offer customers the option to upgrade to the latest technology.

As customers grow increasingly interested in Equipment-as-a-Service for cloud infrastructure, integrated financial solutions become an even more important part of a holistic financial offering, said Christian Roelofs, managing director of Logicalis Financial Services. However, Roelofs said the adoption of new business models is moving faster than the traditional funding market.

Logicalis has therefore created its own structures, working closely with banks and other funding sources to ensure the company can provide the best possible solutions to its customers, Roelofs said. Specifically, the company's creativity and flexibility in being able to offer different products at different times are a source of competitive advantage, Christensen said.

"We're not linked to a vendor," Christensen said. "We're not linked to a funder."

Logicalis Financial Services has been tasked with growing income, top-line revenue, accounts receivable financing, and market penetration, Christensen said. The unit will also be assessed on its profitability as a standalone entity, Roelofs added.

Although Logicalis hopes the additional investment in financial services will lead to both the acquisition of new clients and deeper spending from existing clients, Christensen said adding new customers will be key to growing the business.

Christensen's familiarity with both the product and financing side of the equation made him a perfect fit for the newly-created position, Roelofs said. Christensen spent the past 18 months as managing director of New York-based GSG Financial, and spent the previous 10 years for CIT, where he was the chief sales officer for Avaya Financial Services.

Prior to that, Christensen spent nearly five years as a regional finance manager for EMC Global Financial Services.

Logicalis created a small financial services team roughly two years ago to provide customers with more access to funding, but began to develop a new go-to-market approach when Roelofs joined the company in October. As the financial services division has built up its staff, Roelofs said they have been able to introduce new offerings and provide end users with more on-the-ground skills and knowledge.

"We will create products and solutions that our customers tell us they need and want," Christensen said.