Nutanix expands in France and Turkey with Tech Data

#Hyperconverged vendor @Nutanix has expanded its EMEA distribution availability with a new contract with @TechData in France and Turkey. Its European distribution roster also includes an #Arrow ECS contract - also in France - in addition to Belgium, Spain, Portugal, the Nordics, Luxembourg, the the Netherlands. Exclusive Networks' big data-specialised subsidiary BigTec doubles up on Nutanix' Netherlands coverage. Commenting on the addition of the new geographies, Tech Data's European vice president of strategic vendors Steve Menadue said: "Our customers come to us looking for a technology partner that enables them to prepare their customers for the challenges of the multi-cloud era. "By partnering with Nutanix in France and Turkey, Tech Data offers the opportunity to build relationships with an industry innovator, allowing them to help their customers implement a best-in-class cloud experience using Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS software." The San Jose-based firm was recently cited by a reseller poll on our sister site CRN as one of the top vendors to watch in 2018. Commenting on the contract, Nutanix's senior EMEA channel director Jan Ursi said: "Nutanix is excited to further expand its partnership with Tech Data by signing agreements in France and Turkey. "With Tech Data and its partners' support, IT teams can use the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS to make infrastructure invisible and easily operate powerful multi-cloud architectures, thus enabling them to focus on the applications and services that power their businesses."

https://www.channelnomics.eu/channelnomics-eu/news/3027112/nutanix-expands-emea-distribution-coverage-with-tech-data

Former HPE Channel Sales Superstar Vrij To Lead Lenovo's Global Partners, EMEA Business

Go-to-market superstar @Robert Vrij, who spearheaded partner engagement and drove channel sales at @Hewlett Packard Enterprise, is taking his leadership talents to @Lenovo, according to sources. Renowned as a channel advocate, Vrij is slated to become senior vice president and president of EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) for Lenovo. In addition to running Lenovo's EMEA business, he will also take ownership of some the vendor's key channel relationships with global partners such as @CDW and @Insight as well as distributors such as @IngramMicro and @TechData, sources said. Lenovo is expected to announce Vrij's hiring publicly this week. Solution providers said hiring Vrij will be a game-changer for Lenovo. "Robert's going to bring a lot of channel credibility to Lenovo and their program," said Kenneth Lamneck, president and CEO of Tempe, Ariz.-based Insight, ranked No. 13 on the CRN 2017 Solution Provider 500 list. "He set up a really solid strategy for HPE and partners, and set up some great programs. He has great follow-through to really execute on everything. … This is a really strong move by Lenovo. He will have an immediate impact at Lenovo for sure." [Related: Lenovo Hires AMD Veteran As President For North America Biz] Vrij previously was senior vice president of HPE's Enterprise Group and managing director of HPE Americas. He was responsible for leading enterprise sales across the region as well as coordinating business strategies before leaving in late 2016. Vrij has just completed his 12-month non-compete clause after leaving HPE, according to sources. [Sponsored Suggested Post: New from CRN: The Most Popular Stories Newsletter. Get Our Top Trending Headlines Delivered. Subscribe Today]  Sources said former HPE America's superstar Vrij will now lead Lenovo's EMEA data center group, worldwide global accounts and the growth and strategy of selected top global partners.  Lenovo did not respond to a request for comment by press time. "He's a very senior, talented, experienced executive that will bring an amazing set of talents to Lenovo," said Robert Dutkowsky, chairman and CEO of Clearwater, Fla.-based distributor Tech Data. "He'll be able to build programs that will comprehensively deliver products into the market and improve the overall operations of [Lenovo's] go-to-market model." Dutkowsky said Vrij is a sales leader who builds programs that leverage the strengths of partners with the ability to work hand in hand with the channel to close deals. "I'm excited to see him in a role where he can influence the channel because he understands what makes a successful vendor," said Dutkowsky. Lenovo recently has seen some executive leadership turnover, including the departure of its North America president, Emilio Ghilardi; Gary Smith, COO and head of the company's PC and mobile device business; and Sammy Kinlaw, vice president and channel chief for Lenovo's North America PC business. "Lenovo has had a number of challenges over the years with executive leadership," said one source familiar with the matter. "So this is a good move for channel partners to have somebody of Robert's caliber that's responsible for growing the data center business. … He put in a number of stopgaps into the HPE system, which moved more of the enterprise business to the channel. So this is a big deal for guys like Tech Data, Ingram Micro, CDW, and it will be a big deal for partners with global customers. … Robert is an unbelievable fan of the channel. He'll be a champion for the channel." Vrij joined HPE in 2013 after serving five years at Alcatel-Lucent as executive vice president and chief of global sales and marketing, as well as president and chairman of Alcatel-Lucent USA. He was responsible for managing $15 billion in sales, as well as global alliances, marketing and communications. Vrij also spent nearly a decade at AT&T and Lucent Technologies, including a role as president and CEO of Lucent Technologies for EMEA. "He knows this market very well. He knows the key partners and knows the technology," said Insight's Lamneck. "Overall, he knows all the partners very well, and has a very strong following and strong relationships that will help Lenovo. … We're very excited."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-09/the-co-inventor-of-blackberry-is-building-canada-s-quantum-brain-trust

Tech Data Introduces Device-as-a-Service With Life-Cycle Management Capabilities

@TechData plans to provide its channel partners with a differentiated #DeviceAsAService offering so that they can help end users transform how they consume IT. The Clearwater, Fla.-based distributor said its focus on the actual product life-cycle management piece will differentiate its Device-as-a-Service practice from similar offerings launched earlier this year by broadline distributor peers @IngramMicro and @Synnex, said @JohnOShea, Tech Data's senior vice president of services. "We're not just offering the financial wrapper, but actually own the capability and capacity to deliver the complete lifecycle services around those products," O'Shea told CRN. "I do not believe our competitors have that capability today." [Discover the New Tech Data] CIOs are being asked by their CEOs and boards of directors to move to a model where IT is consumed more like a utility, O'Shea said. At the same time, organizations increasingly recognize that their IT must offer a strategic competitive advantage and that they need to hit certain technology-related deliverables or risk falling further behind, he added. "It's become harder and harder to maintain a bank of technical resources in your own staff competitively, and that means moving to more of a utility operating cost model for IT," O'Shea said. "That's clear, and we're moving down that path." Although the Opex financial model associated with Device-as-a-Service is very important, O'Shea said Tech Data's offering goes well beyond the financial piece thanks to robust infrastructure that can address everything from product design and implementation to ongoing management, reverse logistics and IT asset disposal. [Sponsored Suggested Post: Free IoT Virtual Conference Learn how to monetize IoT solutions. Discover new IoT technologies. Build strategic partnerships.] "We're not outsourcing that element to someone else," he said. "We're managing that directly on behalf of the solution provider." Tech Data's integration and life-cycle services are well-positioned to help channel partners drive and accelerate adoption of new technologies in the market thanks to the additional firepower brought to the table by the distributor's February acquisition of Avnet Technology Solutions, O'Shea said. Technology Solutions was home to high-end integration capabilities around complex converged and hyper-converged infrastructure, according to O'Shea, allowing it to move beyond product delivery and into fulfillment. Tech Data's legacy integration capabilities, meanwhile, focused on asset tagging, asset imaging and light data center integration work, O'Shea said. As vendors assess the channel's implementation abilities through certi­fications, they have made it a component of achieving top-tier partner status and qualifying for the best pricing, he said. Tech Data's services practice can help solution providers maintain their existing business and move into high-growth areas without having to make the up-front investment themselves. Solution providers challenged to invest in new engineers before recognizing any revenue from next-generation technologies can turn to Tech Data and have them provide resources, infrastructure and support on their behalf, O'Shea said. The distributor typically white-labels its services offerings unless the solution provider indicates it would like to go to market alongside the Tech Data brand. "Services are the enabler of the solution," O'Shea said. For Alpha Technologies, with the help of partner Tech Data the solution provider now has managed services accounting for 70 percent of its business compared with 15 percent five years ago, said Doug Tate, CEO and owner of the Hurricane, W.V., company. Alpha Technologies hopes to take the next step by leveraging the consultative and professional services Avnet Technology Solutions has brought to the table, Tate said. He expects these new mid- to senior-level technicians and engineers will help with everything from security and compliance audits to con­figuration support to sales and technical training. "What excites me most is not the product line, but the expansion of Tech Data's service offering," Tate told CRN.

http://www.crn.com/news/managed-services/300093476/tech-data-introduces-device-as-a-service-with-life-cycle-management-capabilities.htm

HPE selects trio of distributors for Nimble Storage products

#NimbleStorage products will be made available through #TechData 's #AzlanTS, #IngramMicro and Westcoast from 1 November, #HPE has revealed, six months after its acquisition of the vendor. HPE has made the decision to use its own storage distribution partners to sell Nimble's full set of products once they join HPE's price list in November. The products are currently available through #Arrow #ECS, #AzlanTS and #IngramMicro, but it's not clear what role Arrow ECS may have in the new setup. Arrow ECS's spokesperson told Channel Pro that Arrow currently remains a Nimble distributor. Arrow is currently the largest Nimble Storage distributor, as well as selling SimpliVity hyperconverged products, which HPE also acquired this year.  HPE said in a statement: "HPE are currently reviewing the HPE FY18 Nimble distribution landscape and further announcements will be made once this process is complete." Westcoast is the first to sell Nimble's entry-level products to HPE's reseller community, after the products were added to HPE's price list. Westcoast managing director Alex Tatham said on LinkedIn: "Let me be the first to celebrate with our Westcoast sales and pre-sales team that have made HPE's first Nimble sale to a great UK reseller. This product needs to be seen to be believed and the channel is going to love InfoSight, the predictive analysis tool it comes with."

http://www.channelpro.co.uk/news/10572/hpe-selects-trio-of-distributors-for-nimble-storage-products

Dell EMC - We've cut more than 100 distributors and we plan to keep cutting

#DellEMC has cut more than 100 distributors from its global line up according to global channel chief #JohnByrne, who said that he intends to continue slimming down the firm's distribution fleet. In October last year, Byrne told partners at Dell EMC's first-ever partner summit in Austin that the firm was over distributed. EMEA channel boss Michael Collins later told us in December that Dell EMC had asked its distributors to submit a request for proposal as part of the review process. Speaking to Channelnomics Europe Byrne confirmed that the firm has now cut 105 distributors globally, bringing Dell EMC's distribution count from 375 in October 2016 to a present day 270. The channel chief said that he intends to reduce its distribution ranks even further and claimed that cuts were "ongoing" but could not put a number on how many more will be removed. According to Sarah Shields, general manager of UK channels at Dell EMC, the UK has seen very few distribution cuts, and is likely to remain largely unaffected by the firm's distribution review. "Just to be clear, in the UK we are pretty clean. Especially when you look at Exertis and Hammer, two become one, then you have Azlan, Tech Data and Avnet, so three become one, so we are in a pretty good position right now," she said. "It has become far easier for partners to navigate our portfolio which is vast. It has been perfect timing." Dell EMC intends to maintain a mix of regional value-added distributors as well as maintain relationships with the three global names: Ingram, Tech Data and Arrow. Collins had previously explained that the firm intends to adopt a "two-plus-one" model, where each country will be catered for by two global players plus a regional one. Byrne said that he intends to keep the same combination on a global basis. "There will be some regional specialisation, some countries there will be two-to-one some will be three-to-one and some will be three-to-two. But nonetheless we are looking at significant distribution rationalisation, and we want the distributors with the capability. If you're not a specialist, we want you to be selling more of our portfolio and we want to be taking share from HP, Lenovo and Cisco. Byrne echoed Collins' sentiments in claiming that the mega-merger between distribution titans Avnet and Tech Data has helped Dell EMC with its distribution review. Byrne claims that since Dell's marriage to EMC, the "big three" distributors have been "all in" with the united company. "When we came together, for EMC, way over 60 per cent of their distribution business was done with the big four, and now the big three, so Arrow, Ingram and Tech Data. If you look at VMware, which is also part of Dell Technologies, they are also heavily weighted towards the big three. At Dell we weren't, the big three were less of our business," he said. "Those big disties didn't really look at us as an enterprise play and I think now there is no confusion; we are absolutely an enterprise play, truly end to end. We are definitely going big with the big three, however we are also looking for regional specialists." He added: "Those big three are all in with us. If you speak to them independently, our channel has been growing double digit, our distribution business has been going double digit since we became a private organisation. We have the widest portfolio on the planet, our channel is growing fast and our share is of wallet with partners is only in the low teens. None of their other existing vendors are throwing those points on the board."

https://www.channelnomics.eu/channelnomics-eu/news/3012664/dell-emc-weve-cut-more-than-100-distributors-and-we-plan-to-keep-cutting

Dell EMC Networking Makes 'Distribution Exclusive' Commitment For Hot X Series Switches

#DellEMC is ratcheting up its networking technology offensive with a strategy to push its #XSeries network switch products exclusively through distribution. This is the first time Dell EMC has offered a product line through distribution exclusively. The program is beginning in North America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific/Japan, and will be global by the end of the year, according to Jim DeFoe, Dell EMC senior vice president of worldwide distribution. Dell EMC works with #TechData, #Arrow and #Ingram, among other distributors.

The arrangement is aimed at helping partners tap into cross-selling opportunities in the Dell Technologies portfolio. Mike Heintzelman, vice president of global vendors at Tech Data, said that fits neatly with the distributor's own strategies.

Related: CRN Exclusive: Tech Data Gives SMB-Focused Partners A Leg Up With New Pre-Configured Microsoft Azure-Based Cloud Server

"A lot of IT vendors bring their products through distribution. This demonstrates and reinforces Dell EMC's commitment to the channel," said Tech Data's Heintzelman. "We view them as a strategic vendor, and we see continued growth for us as a distributor with Dell EMC. This is one more piece to that puzzle and allows us to expand that relationship."

For Dell EMC, the strategy helps "give [distributors] the opportunity to make a splash with a much larger audience of partners than they might be able to themselves," Heintzelman said, adding that Tech Data has about 50 salespeople dedicated to Dell EMC.

Dell EMC's "open" approach to networking has been building momentum, and pushing the X Series switches through distribution is intended to capitalize on that momentum, DeFoe said. "Distribution is the fastest-growing part of our business, and we're looking to distribution to onboard all new partners," he said. "

Dell EMC Networking boss Tom Burns said even though the X Series is aimed squarely at the SMB or "small enterprise" market, the company is timing its acceleration through distribution at a time when the networking market is at "an inflection point" at which customers are looking for alternatives to legacy networking vendors like Cisco or HPE.

"We continue to have a relationship with Cisco, but it's also true that we know customers at times will want an alternative, and our real focus is on those disruptive areas around software-defined, around hyper-converged and converged, and around simplifying the campus," Burns said. "You'll see more and more investment in the portfolio and more and more investment in the channel to accelerate our growth above market. It's going to take time, but we feel good about our customer traction. The switch can't be the hold-up of all these new capabilities anymore."

Last year Dell EMC's switching business grew 7 percent while the market as a whole grew about 4 percent, Burns said. "Our data center business grew double digits, our campus business was low single digit. We see growth above market. In Q1, we grew 2.5 times the market. We grew close to 16 percent in our global solution portfolio," Burns said.

"We're seeing double-digit growth from our distribution business worldwide," DeFoe said. "We're seeing our distributors today being able to expand lines of business for us. If you look at EMC and their partners who had never done business with Dell, we're seeing very high penetration and increase of EMC storage tied to Dell servers where historically that partner had not sold Dell."

Dell EMC Networking's X Series switches have been shipping for about a year. The idea behind the series is simplicity. They use a simple GUI user interface and can be pre-configured via a USB port. To date, they've been most successful in SMB, education and retail markets, Burns said. The X Series also provides power to wireless access points, phones, cameras and other network devices with Power over Ethernet switches, and come in models from eight ports to 48 ports.
 

The new distribution strategy for the X Series comes barely more than a month after Dell EMC put pressure on networking competitors with a raft of new products introduced at the annual Dell EMC World conference in Las Vegas.

Those products include a 25-Gigabit Ethernet top-of-rack platform enabled for open networking, as well as a new 10/100-Gigabit Ethernet open networking top-of-rack switch, 100-Gigabit Ethernet fabric uplinks, and a 10/100-Gigabit Ethernet switching platform for campus environments.

The 10-Gigabit Ethernet and 25-Gigabit Ethernet platforms will run on a new version of Dell EMC's Linux-based OS10 operating system, which will be released as OS10 Enterprise Edition.

http://m.crn.com/news/networking/300087131/dell-emc-networking-makes-distribution-exclusive-commitment-for-hot-x-series-switches.htm?itc=most_pop

Tech Data TS unit add VxRail and VxRack

#TechData ’s brand new Technology Solutions unit will get a boost from #DellEMC #VxRail appliances and #VxRack Systems to its network of channel partners with add-on cloud services, including resource-saving plug-ins. These plug-ins, designed for #VMware #vRealize Orchestrator environments, bring automation to existing infrastructures. It also lays a foundation for data centre transformation and cloud readiness. The new packaged add-ons and services boost partner revenue bases along with allow solution providers to develop their own practices. Sid Earley, vice president, Dell EMC and VMware solutions for Tech Data in the Americas, said multi-vendor orchestration plug-ins can help partners automate servers across organizational silos and disparate companies or groups. Tech Data’s new plug-ins include: Facilitate creation or cancellation of IT service management transactions and tickets for managing process and data integration. Leverage out-of-the-box sample workflows that accelerate time to market with near-immediate investment realization, while integrating into multi-vendor cloud solutions. Gil Shneorson, senior vice president and general manager, VxRail Appliances, Converged Platforms & Solutions Division, Dell EMC, said Tech Data’s cloud services IP and plug-ins can provide resellers with an opportunity to add value to their customers’ hyper-converged environments, further simplifying their journey to private and hybrid cloud. In addition, channel partners get access to both the Technology Solutions’ Cloud Marketplace and Tech Data’s cloud platform, StreamOne. Adding on to this access will be cognitive computing, the data centre, data analytics, the Internet of Things, mobility, security and enterprise networking.
http://www.computerdealernews.com/news/tech-data-ts-unit-add-vxrail-and-vxrack/54420

Distribution Battle Heats Up Around Dell EMC

Now that #DellEMC has formally launched its unified channel program, a battle to command the loyalty of the channel partners of the largest provider of IT infrastructure is now under way among distributors. Dell EMC has named #Arrow, #Avnet, #IngramMicro and #TechData as its primary distributors, along with a smattering of regional distributors that operate in specific countries. The most surprising addition to that list is arguably Ingram Micro, which while having had a relationship with Dell, had been previously dropped by EMC. "We're excited to be back in the game," said Kirk Robinson, senior vice president for go-to-market for Ingram Micro.

http://mobile.channelinsider.com/tech-companies/distribution-battle-heats-up-around-dell-emc.html

Quest Looks to Tech Data to Ease Channel Transition

#QuestSoftware has aligned itself with #TechData to make a broad range of #ITmanagement, #dataprotection and #securitysoftware available to #channelpartners. In the wake of being spun out of #Dell prior to the merger between Dell and #EMC, Quest Software is now in the process of trying to reconnect with the channel. With that goal in mind, Quest Software has aligned itself with Tech Data to make a broad range of IT management, data protection and security software available to channel partners. As part of that effort, Sid Early, vice president of the Dell Solution Group at Tech Data, said the new Quest Software is now squarely focused on the channel. "We see them as being extremely focused on the channel," he said. The challenge Quest Software faces as an independent company is that its history in the channel has been bumpy. Prior to being acquired by Dell, the company was best known for selling many of its offerings direct rather than indirect.

http://mobile.channelinsider.com/news-and-trends/quest-looks-to-tech-data-to-ease-channel-transition.html