Tech Data Canada (Nasdaq: TECD) has recently signed a new distribution agreement with virtualization software vendor, VMWare Inc., (NYSE: VMW) to not only extend its server virtualization software of offerings, but to also attract new partners in the SMB space.
Under the agreement, Tech Data has agreed to distribute VMware’s complete line up of desktop and data centre virtualization solutions. Greg Myers, vice-president of marketing at Tech Data Canada, said adding VMware solutions to its distribution offerings was a natural and smart fit for the company.
“VMware’s virtualization solutions were one of the missing pieces in our line card of offerings in our Storage and Server Business Unit,” Myers said. “Up until now, our resellers were acquiring VMware solutions through our OEM agreements with HP and IBM.”
VMWare recently completed a major upgrade to its VIP partner program.
Myers said the sets of skus that were being offered in the OEM agreements were often limited in their flexibility and sku lists.
“Our OEM agreements offered skus with VMware already loaded on the server,” Myers said. “But now, offering a licensed solution gives the reseller the flexibility to build a customized solution. When you’re a partner, you want to be able to have this option.”
Myers also said that as part of the distribution agreement with VMware, Tech Data has also agreed to focus on new recruits in the Canadian marketplace for the first six months. By not going after existing VMware partners, Myers said Tech Data will be able to focus its efforts on finding new partners in the Canadian SMB space.
“The fact that we’re not going to be working with VMware’s established partners right away means we’ll be able to extend our reach in Canada,” Myers said. “In August, we’ll have the ability to then offer VMware’s full line of products to all authorized VMware resellers.”
From a revenue standpoint, Myers said reseller partners will see the most opportunities when they offer streamlined and management resources to their customers that enable them to save time, money and their environmental footprint.
For the next six months, Myers said Tech Data will be primarily focused on the Canadian SMB reseller space in order to recruit, develop and train new resellers of VMware. On the Tech Data side of things, Myers said all of its current national and major VARs will be engaged in the VMware virtualization solution space.
So far, Myers said Tech Data has trained more than 100 inside and field sales reps along with product managers and licensing associates in Canada. When it comes to successfully selling and deploying a technology, Myers said you first have to be grounded in it in order to sell it.
“The SMB space is important to us because smaller companies are looking at virtualization solutions to help them get the management and cost efficiency benefits out of having a virtualized solution,” Myers said. “The SMB reseller space is a strong focus for us because things like server consolidation are really driving the demand. Resellers need to embrace the virtualized computing model in order to thrive in this marketplace.”