By: Nana Appiah Acquaye
Climb Channel Solutions, (“Climb”) an international
specialty technology distributor and wholly owned subsidiary of the Climb
Global Solutions. Inc. Has announced its expansion into South Africa as part of
its continued EMEA growth strategy.
With more than 40 years of experience in specialist IT
distribution, Climb brings a proven track record of delivering growth for
vendors and partners globally to South Africa with a new local operation
supported by an experienced in-country team to serve partners across the
region.
Alongside its market entry, Climb has signed a
distribution partnership with Sophos, a global leader of innovative security
solutions, bringing its full portfolio of security solutions to South African
resellers and managed service providers (MSPs). The partnership builds on the
successful relationship between Climb and Sophos that was first established in
North America.
This move marks the next step in Climb’s EMEA expansion
strategy, and follows successful moves into the UK, DACH, Ireland and
Southeastern Europe. Climb’s South African team, which will all be Sophos sales
certified, is led by Andrew Potgieter, Sales Director South Africa, who brings
deep regional expertise and will spearhead the company’s partner-first approach
in the market. This combination of local leadership with the backing of an
established international organisation offers partners and vendors the confidence
of working with a distributor known for its speed to market. operational depth,
consistency, long-term market commitment and fostering long term relationships.
Climb’s partnership with Sophos introduces new
opportunities for South African partners to address a rapidly evolving threat
landscape. Sophos supports more than 600,000 organisations globally with its
industry-leading managed detection and response (MDR) alongside a comprehensive
portfolio of cybersecurity technologies, which includes endpoint, network,
email, and cloud security, extended detection and response (XDR), identity
threat detection and response (ITDR), and next-gen SIEM.
The partnership comes at a time of increasing
cybersecurity urgency in South Africa. According to the Sophos
State of Ransomware 2025 report, South African organisations face an
escalating crisis, with 71% of surveyed firms paying ransoms, which is a sharp
increase from 43% in 2024. This data highlights the need for advanced,
integrated security solutions and trusted partner support.
Dale Foster, CEO, Climb said “South Africa represents a
key strategic market in our EMEA growth journey. Our investment in local talent
and infrastructure reflectd our long-term commitment to the region and to
empowering partners with the tools, expertise, and support they need to
succeed. To enter the region with a partner of the calibre of Sophos
demonstrates our clear intention: to deliver the best technology to partners in
South Africa and to help them grow.”
Andrew Potgieter, Sales Director South Africa, Climb commented: “We
are excited to bring Climb’s proven distribution model to South Africa. Our
focus is on building strong, trusted relationships with partners and helping
them accelerate growth through enablement, responsiveness, and access to
leading technologies like Sophos. By establishing a permanent local presence
from day one, Climb aims to bring stability, choice, and international
perspective to the South African cybersecurity ecosystem, supporting partners
as customer requirements become increasingly complex and globally connected.
This is just the beginning for Climb in South Africa – in the coming weeks
we’ll be announcing our bespoke AI program for partners, which is designed to
take partners from AI curiosity to full-scale success.”
John Mitchell, Director of Channels EMEA North, Sophos
said: “We are pleased to expand our relationship with Climb into South Africa.
Their strong channel focus and commitment to partner enablement make them an
ideal distributor to help scale our presence and support partners in delivering
best-in-class cybersecurity solutions. Our relationship with Climb has been
built over many years, and we are excited for this new phase of global
expansion.”
Pieter Nel, Regional Head, SADC, Sophos said:“This
partnership with Climb strengthens how we serve South African organisations,
extending access to Sophos’ AI-driven platform and deep threat intelligence
insights. Together, we can deliver integrated prevention, detection, and
response that can grow with customers, from mid-market to the largest
environments, as threats continue to accelerate.”
Resellers and MSPs in South Africa are invited to
explore partnership opportunities with Climb and join upcoming enablement
sessions, including a dedicated partner launch webinar.
