D&H Distributing is looking to take on a new role in the near future as an aggregator of cloud-based services and is placing an increasing focus on training its reseller customers.
As it looks do define its role in cloud computing, Michael Schwab, co-CEO of D&H, said there’s a lot exploration still to be done – but there is one role he knows he doesn’t want to get into.
“One thing we know we’re not is a NOC operator,” Schwab said the company’s annual Technology Trade Show in Markham, ON this week. “Some distributors have taken on that role, but that’s not what we do. It’s good for the channel that the option is out there, but our role is much more that of an aggregator of platforms for our resellers.”
Schwab outlined a plan that’s under development that will see the distributor offer a collection of bundled offerings from cloud service providers that will be made available to the company’s solution providers as white-label solutions, making it easier for the company’s SMB-focused resellers to offer their own cloud-based offerings. D&H would offer a dashboard that allows solution providers to select from a menu of products for their customers, including hosted SharePoint and Exchange as well as bandwidth.
“The end user pays a monthly fee, the reseller gets their recurring revenue and we provide the connection,” Schwab said.
Greg Tobin, general manager of D&H Canada, said that especially with cloud-based services, the trust built up between the reseller and customers is paramount, as deals often include technologies that come close to the line between applications and mission-critical systems. And Schwab said the trust between resellers and D&H is equally important. “They have to know that we’ve chosen the right back office systems and have the right support in place,” he said.
