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Tech Data has announced several new steps in its managed services efforts — including expanded initiatives with Advanced Technology Services and Zenith Infotech.
It’s good to see distributors offering “choice” to VARs and aspiring MSPs. But VARs will also need extra hand holding as they evaluate their MSP platform options. Here’s why, along with a closer look at Tech Data’s moves.
During a partner conference in Florida this week, Tech Data says it expanded a partnership with Advanced Technology Services (ATS), maker of the iTWatch Managed Services platform. iTwatch is a hosted network, server, desktop and printer monitoring and repair-focused solution.
Tech Data has also announced a free, 60-day trial of Zenith’s managed data backup and disaster recovery solution to the first 250 qualified Tech Data customers. The promotion, Tech Data says, enables resellers and their sales and technical staff to become familiar with the solution before introducing managed data backup and disaster recovery services to their end-user customers. (For more info, Tech Data has set up a phone line: (800) 237-8931, ext. 64257.)
Zenith Infotech and ATS are part of a growing list of MSP platforms offered by Tech Data, including:
- Remote monitoring and management service providers (Advanced Technology Services, N-able Technologies and Zenith Infotech);
- Managed print services application provider (FMAudit); and
- Converged voice and data service providers (Cbeyond Inc., Telovations Inc. and XO Communications).
Sorting Out Your Options
Now, for the challenge: Many VARs are looking for specific product advice — which MSP platform should they choose? How does N-able compare to Zenith Infotech, Kaseya, Level Platforms and other options?
I hear these questions all the time. Distributors like Tech Data and Ingram Micro (which promotes managed services under the Ingram Micro Seismic moniker) are in a tricky spot. On the one hand, they should be applauded for offering customer choice as VARs evaluate their platform needs. But on the other, I wonder how distributors are helping VARs to make informed platform decisions?
Frankly, I have to beat myself up a bit because I need to start asking Ingram and Tech Data the very questions I’ve posed above. If you have more questions about how distributors are playing in the managed services market, please weigh in and I’ll be sure to raise your thoughts as I conduct interviews in the weeks ahead.
Posted In: Platforms
Tags: Advanced Technology Services | Cbeyond | FMAudit | Ingram Micro Seismic | N-able Technologies | Tech Data | Telovations | XO Communications | Zenith Infotech
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Hey Joe -
You bring up an excellent point: Why aren’t you, or anybody else in the IT media, asking Ingram Micro (me) and Tech Data the hard questions? Why are people not digging into each of our announcements to understand what substance is behind them?
Bring it. I welcome the in-depth discussions of our business strategy. I would like to see more people asking the difficult questions of me or my competitors. You would quickly ascertain the differences between strategies and offerings.
Since nobody seems to know what to ask, here are my suggestions: What dedicated personnel and support resources do we have in place to support VARs in the managed services space? Do we have dedicated services sales, operations, marketing, and vendor management teams in place today building this business with our VAR partners? Who owns the services and managed services strategies at each distributor? Do their jobs depend on the successful growth of those business units? Are they compensated on the success and growth of the services business and on the success of their VAR partners? How many VARs are we actively supporting in our respective services businesses? What customer case studies can we provide to support our business strategies? What investments have the distributors made in resources, people, and support for VARs? How are these “partnerships” with managed service tool providers setup and managed? Are they co-marketing agreements or actual contractual business partnerships with shared risk?
Hold us accountable. We welcome those discussions and we’re sure our competitors do, too. I suspect you already know the answers to these questions in the case of Ingram Micro. If you don’t, shame on me.
Justin Crotty
VP Services North America
Ingram Micro
Justin: Thank you for starting the dialog. Sometimes the media is sooo busy looking at the big picture, we forget to shake a few of the individual trees in our quest for answers.
We should talk. I am traveling a bit but available on cell. I will drop you an email and we’ll make sure we cover the topics we’ve both raised above.
Readers: For those who don’t know Justin, he’s the person behind Ingram Micro Seismic, the distributor’s MSP-centric efforts.
-jp
I think as distributors continue to offer more solutions that compete with each other, such as Zenith and ATS, (I believe you can buy n-Able through Tech Data as well) their customers are going to need to ask them why so many offerings? What makes me want to choose this offering over the other. Why do you sell both offerings, do they have complementary or redundant solutions.
One place these distributors could shine would be to limit the competing solutions to those that truly are the best and that complement rather than compete with each other. This would very much tell the VAR why they should buy. It’s because the distributor that they trust has told them the solution is the best and not just one of many that they sell.
From what I can tell this is the path that Seismic has been following, although it doesn’t look like Tech Data is.
It’s a tricky situation: Distributors can choose today’s “best” platform. But what if that platform starts to lag in the years ahead? What if it gets acquired by a software or hardware company that wants to reposition the product?
I can see why Tech Data is putting its eggs into multiple baskets. But that also introduces all of the additional challenges of helping VARs find the platform that fits best at any one moment in time.
Well then you adapt and move on. This recently happened to us and I think that our resellers have been happy with our choices. We still have a much deeper R&D effort then they have so they trust us to make the right choice.
“…During a partner conference in Florida this week…” Close. You only missed it by three time zones. Hint: think slot machines, show girls, impromptu weddings.
Hey Ted: Thanks for the correction. The dateline from Tech Data was Clearwater, Fla. — the company HQ. Hence my error.