ALEF Named Official Distributor of F5, Inc. in Greece and Cyprus

The partnership between ALEF and F5 traces back to 2012 at the group level, signifying a longstanding commitment to delivering advanced solutions to the market. With F5's specialized offerings in Web Application and API Protection, Online Fraud Prevention, Zero Trust Security, Application and Network Performance, and Modern Application Delivery, ALEF is poised to cater to the evolving needs of businesses across various sectors.

The announcement of this partnership was made during an event held on Monday, February 19th, at Athens Marriott Hotel, attended by ALEF and F5 partners.

Established in 1994, ALEF has been a reliable technology distributor of value-added solutions with a strong foothold in CEE. ALEF's direct partnership with industry giants like Cisco and its exclusive distribution of NetApp in whole region including Greece and Cyprus since 2019.

With the addition of F5's offerings to its portfolio, ALEF aims to further expand its distribution network and enhance support across various sectors including finance, public sector, healthcare, e-commerce, and service providers.

"Our goal is to add value to the local market, and we can do this with the expertise we have already gained from our European operations". Milan Zinek, CEO of ALEF Group, stated that the expansion of the F5 partnership in Greece and Cyprus presents new opportunities in the region. 

“Expanding our reach, ALEF is now positioned to provide comprehensive end-to-end solutions and enhanced support services across our operational regions. With F5 representation, notably in Greece and Cyprus, we are better equipped to serve our clients more effectively. Additionally, our partners and end-users will benefit from more direct and streamlined training opportunities at the ALEF Training Center in Greece." According to Panagiotis Kokkonis, Managing Director of ALEF Distribution in Greece, this is particularly crucial as informed businesses can make the right choices based on their requirements. Kokkonis also noted that the current conditions are favorable for F5 to expand in the Greek and Cypriot markets, as well as for them to continue to grow. 

Aran Erel, Senior Regional Director for Spain, Israel, Portugal, Greece, and Cyprus at F5, said that this partnership is a significant development for the local market. He expressed his satisfaction with the presence of the management of ALEF in Greece and that of the parent company at the event. Erel is optimistic about the future: "There is a positive atmosphere and mutual respect between the parties.  During the discussions leading up to the extension of our cooperation, we discovered that we have so much in common with ALEF. We agreed on the criteria that led to the partnership and its objectives in a very short time". Aran Erel explained that F5's objectives are based on three pillars: "Our goal is to provide the widest range of solutions available in the local industry and ensure visibility for our applications, whether they run locally or in multiple cloud environments. The third pillar we aim to achieve is completely abstracting our application services from the underlying infrastructure, and respectively enable our customers to run in genuine multi-cloud environments.” 

Ran Cohen, Senior Channel Manager for Israel, Greece, Cyprus and the Palestinian Territories, said that Greece is experiencing rapid technological growth, similar to Israel's growth in applications over the past few years. "Partnering with ALEF represents a great opportunity," said Cohen. "We prefer to work with distributors and sales channels rather than centrally, as they add value. ALEF in Greece has an excellent reputation, particularly the country manager, Mr. Kokkonis, and every partner has nothing but good things to say about them. I appreciate working with positive and experienced people, and this is certainly true for ALEF".  

Moreover, Lubomir Zlacky, Regional Distributor Director of ALEF Group, expressed his joy over the extended collaboration with F5 across almost all ALEF Group countries. He emphasized that the extensive coverage of F5 within the ALEF Group presents a significant advantage, facilitating robust knowledge and market sharing. Zlacky emphasized that this synergy will undoubtedly bolster continued growth and foster new business opportunities within the group.