Monday Morning Impact – August 28

TD SYNNEX Launches AI Program and Partner Tool

TD Synnex has launched Destination AI, an aggregation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) services and resources for allied partners, based on the distributor’s Data Analytics, AI, and IoT/Edge solutions strategy. The company currently has more than 40 AI vendors as of their catalog of pre-validated available solutions. Program components also include industry-relevant use cases, reference architectures, partner education, demos, and support.

“Deploying advanced analytics and AI technologies have amplified additional strategic opportunities for our reseller partners, allowing them to drive adjacent sales and use cases across industry sectors,” said Lisa McGarvey, VP of Data, AI, and IoT Solutions at TD Synnex. “We are able to support multi-vendor solutions with best-of-breed services, software, hardware and edge devices to address today’s market demands.”

In a separate announcement, the company also announced the launch of a data-driven Partner Health and Fitness tool that provides MSPs, VARs, and ISVs with insights into their diversification across the TD Synnex portfolio. The assessment provides information to help guide partners’ technology offerings through a new dashboard that provides partners with metrics to gauge their offerings against other partners that are also participating in high-growth areas like cloud, cybersecurity, AI and IoT, and hyperscale infrastructure. Anyone who has transacted within the NextGen or Advanced Solutions portfolio has access to their own dashboard. Composite scores are aggregated on a bell curve, which enables the partner being assessed to see how their performance compares with the rest of the industry.

The Partner Health and Fitness assessment is currently open to U.S. based partners, and the distributor is evaluating expansion to other regions in the Americas and in Europe.

Channel Impact^®
The new initiatives are intended to unlock new business opportunities for partners, compare and contrast against other partners, and support customers’ digital transformation journeys.

D&H Distributing Launches New Technology Solutions Program to Support Sophisticated Installs

D&H Distributing, a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based distributor of SMB, mid-market, and consumer technologies, has launched its new Technology Solutions program to augment the company’s pre-sales support offering. The program features a training and demo facility at the D&H headquarters in Harrisburg enabling to build proof-of-concept solutions using AV and videoconferencing equipment as well as other areas. VARs can also use the facility to hold their own training events or end-customer demos. Lab events can be attended live and/or broadcast simultaneously to off-site locations.

The program will offer three tiers. At the Explore level, D&H’s Solutions Experts provide recommendations on how to proceed with complicated projects. This tier is for entry-level D&H partners.

At the Empower level, partners who do a certain level of business with D&H will have access to the distributor’s certified engineers and subject matter experts for guidance on impending installations. Partners will be able to schedule time in the upgraded lab with D&H’s technicians to build large-scale infrastructure projects, live on-site.

At the Enable level, trainings are hosted by D&H sales engineers on behalf of the distributor’s vendor partners. The Technology Solutions team will reach out to eligible customers on a quarterly basis to engage them in training opportunities, including in conjunction with D&H’s technology events.

A series of vendors have already committed to providing resources and content for the Technology Solutions program, including Black Box, Buffalo, CyberPower, Dell, HPE, HPI, Intel, LG, Logitech, Microsoft OEM, MSI Systems, NETGEAR, Samsung Electronics SSD, Sharp NEC, Ubiquiti, and Zyxel.

“The Technology Solutions program allows a growing number of partners to have live experiences with technologies they may not otherwise have the opportunity to trial in the field,” said Jeff Hunt, sales engineer manager at D&H Distributing. “Some of these solutions are still new and evolving, and with the speed that technology advances, their functionality changes frequently.”

The Technology Solutions program has initially engaged a select group of resellers, mostly in the SMB sector, and will continue to grow both in scope and in the number of partners who are involved in the program.

Channel Impact^®
The technology market is transforming so quickly that it’s often difficult for resellers to keep up with the latest developments. The Lab can help resellers looking to tackle advanced deployments like videogaming arenas, high-end commercial digital signage, and SOC or SIEM data centers.

Check Point to Acquire Perimeter 81 for SASE Strategy

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. of San Carlos California has announced an agreement to acquire Perimeter 81, a Security Service Edge (SSE) vendor. With this acquisition, Check Point intends to help organizations accelerate the adoption of secure access across remote users, sites, cloud, data centers, and the internet.

Perimeter 81, launched in 2018 with a team of over 200 employees, serves more than 3,000 customers worldwide. The company combines cloud and on-device protection in a suite of capabilities that includes Zero Trust Access and full mesh connectivity between users, branches, and applications. Perimeter 81´s capabilities is expected to be integrated into Check Point Infinity’s architecture to deliver a unified security solution across the network, cloud, and remote users.

“With the advent of hybrid work and the rise of cloud transformation, the demand for security services that expand beyond the network perimeter is increasing,” says Gil Shwed, CEO at Check Point Software Technologies. “By leveraging Perimeter 81´s capabilities and integrating them into the Check Point Infinity platform we continue with our vision to deliver the best security through comprehensive, collaborative and consolidated solutions.”

“By joining Check Point, a global leader in cyber security for over 30 years, we aim to deliver the premier SASE platform in the market,” says Amit Bareket, CEO at Perimeter 81. “Our interconnection represents a significant step towards a comprehensive and scalable security for the modern era.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Check Point will acquire Perimeter 81 for approximately $490 million, on a cash free, debt free basis. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.

Channel Impact^®
Hybrid work is now the standard for organizations globally, and digital transformation is continuously shifting data centers to the cloud, necessitating an advanced approach to network security that supports the needs of the modern, distributed enterprise.