Distribution Watch: Westcon, Avnet, Ingram Micro

Welcome to another edition of Distribution Watch, our weekly assemblage of all things distribution related. This week we’ve got stuff from Westcon, Avnet Technology Solutions and Ingram Micro (NASDAQ: IM), so settle in and we’ll get to it.

Westcon: The distributor of unified communications, network infrastructure, data center and security solutions has expanded its data center line with a new contractual agreement with Fujistu North America to offer its PRIMERGY server and ETERNUS storage lines, complementing its current lineup of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) and Avaya technologies.

In addition, Westcon has named Dan Papes as senior vice president of the company’s Emerging Technologies and Data Center Practice. He previously served as global VP of Worldwide Cloud Services Sales at IBM, and will be tasked with  further building the data center business practice, as well as creating a sales and support infrastructure to broaden the partner portfolio and accelerating the Fujitsu relationship, according to the company.

Avnet Technology Solutions: The operating group of Avnet Inc.‘s (NYSE: AVT) Americas team was named the recipient of a Cisco Worldwide Distribution Summit award for Worldwide Data Center Architecture. Cisco unveiled the winners prior to its annual Cisco Partner Summit 2012 in San Diego April 16-19.

“The Cisco Worldwide Data Center Architecture award presented to Avnet Technology Solutions recognizes its performance and expertise as a Cisco channel partner in data center architecture in 2011,” said Scott A. Brown, vice president, Worldwide Distribution at Cisco.

Cisco Worldwide Distribution Summit awards reflect a distributor’s performance and expertise in a given category as the highest ranking in the world.

Ingram Micro: More than 600 IT solution providers and vendor partners are taking part in Ingram Micro’s Spring 2012 North American VentureTech Network (VTN) Invitational, held May 2-5 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Themed “Partner. Prosper. Repeat,” the four-day event was designed to fuel the collaboration between Ingram Micro and its top partners, and drive greater growth and comradery across the entire community, according to the company.

Throughout the event, members had the opportunity to participate in peer-to-peer networking opportunities, a managed print services boot camp, targeted breakout sessions and member-led presentations focused on business best practices, cloud, social media, sales compensation and more. The event also featured a technology fair and a “VTN Gives Back” charity event benefiting the LIVESTRONG organization.

And that, as they say, is that. Check back next week for the latest in distribution doings. Until then, keep your nose clean. I’m watching you.