Technology Reseller - v18 2019

01732 759725 NEWS : DISTRIBUTORS 10 Westcon is calling on VARs to speed up their adoption of SD-WAN, in light of a 382% increase in total opportunities with global SD-WAN leader Silver Peak, with the highest rate of growth amongst mid-market and SMB organisations. Tony Randall, Westcon Global SD- WAN Director, said: “Most multi-site organisations are evaluating how the technology can complement or replace their current architecture. However, they also want to change to more of a software subscription-based model, so partners that can deliver a true OPEX model and service and manage the technology for customers have a critical advantage. “As evaluations become a commitment to purchase when networks are replaced and re-engineered, customers will want rapid deployment, so we need the VAR channel to be ready and able to respond to this growing demand.” Tom Deighton, Silver Peak vendor manager, Westcon, adds that the opportunity is not just for the core SD-WAN technology but also complementary value- add sales. “For partners, additional security and services business is a natural extension of a Silver Peak discussion, and those with deep datacentre and security expertise will have customers researching their SD-WAN options. If they haven’t done so already, partners need to invest now and enable an SD-WAN revenue stream.” WestconComstor.com Time to get ready for SD-WAN, says Westcon Westcon exclusive Mitel training partner Westcon has been appointed Mitel’s exclusive Authorised Training Partner (ATP) for EMEA and APAC. As such, it will deliver certified technical training to partners and their customers in public and virtual classrooms, as well as bespoke private sessions. In a further expansion of its Mitel partner enablement capabilities, Westcon has recruited a pre-sales specialist with more than 13 years’ experience as a telecoms engineer and in-depth knowledge of Mitel products including MiVoice Office. Commenting on his appointment, James Reid said: “With Mitel back in the channel, partners can really fast-track their ambitions through our end-to-end Mitel capabilities. As a team, we add significant value to partners looking to deliver class-leading solutions built on Mitel technologies and complementary vendors in networking, SD-WAN and endpoints.” WestconComstor.com ScanSource going places ScanSource has bolstered its presence in the UK with the opening of a new distribution centre in Southampton that will enable it to extend order cut-off times for UK customers, provide next-day delivery and launch enhanced professional services. It has also opened a new office for its AV, unified communications and cloud services teams in Winnersh Triangle, Berkshire, in addition to their existing premises in Bury. A third ScanSource office in Hull houses the company’s Auto ID and point-of-sale (POS) teams. www.scansource.eu As part of its partnership with McLaren Racing, ScanSource’s logo will appear on Fernando Alonso’s racesuit and McLaren- Chevrolet car at the 2019 Indianapolis 500, which takes place on May 26, at the same time as the ScanSource annual conference, also in Indianapolis. Largest HPE GreenLake 3.0 order secured by Westcoast Westcoast Technology Solutions has helped secure the largest ever HPE Greenlake 3.0 channel order. The multi-million-dollar deal landed in January is reportedly twice the size of any other GreenLake 3.0 solution and the first of its kind in the UK&I Channel. The multi-platform solution, which includes HPE’s Synergy, 3Par and StoreOnce technologies, will enable the customer to reduce the cost of hosting mission-critical applications and will ensure increased data requirements are not hindered by downtime caused by under-provisioning or inflated costs due to over-provisioning. Westcoast, which was appointed an early adopter partner in mid-2018, worked with HPE and the partner to qualify, size and specify the opportunity and ensure that it met, and ultimately exceeded, the customer’s needs. GreenLake 3.0’s mixture of on-prem hardware and cloud-like economics, including monthly metered billing, enables customers to deploy new capacity without delay and meet business needs without lengthy procurement processes. https://greenlake.westcoastcampaigns.co.uk Guide to growth To help resellers maximise opportunities in the IP end point market, Nimans has brought out a 56-page guide highlighting the steady shift from propriety platforms to an Open SIP infrastructure. MZA Ltd predicts that by 2022 more than 70% of hosted/IP end points in the UK will operate on an Open SIP basis, presenting significant opportunities for resellers. Nimans Head of Channel Sales Tom Maxwell said: “The migration towards cloud-based voice and UCaaS platforms is now firmly under way in the UK business community – with demand predominantly driven by SMBs and mid-sized enterprises. This transition presents one of the greatest opportunities for resellers to secure incremental business by targeting an increasingly popular Open SIP market.” In addition to an overview of market trends, the guide includes information on handsets, headsets, AV collaboration, door entry, public address, call management and connectivity hardware, as well as value added services, such as leasing options. Tony Randall For the 10th consecutive year, Tech Data has been selected by Fortune as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies , achieving a second place ranking in the Wholesalers: Electronics and Office Equipment category.