Avnet Technology Solutions (AVT) this week said its distribution relationship with IBM (IBM) has expanded to include cloud-based services from SoftLayer.

SoftLayer, a company Big Blue acquired back in June 2013, will assist Avnet with advancing the cloud portfolios of business partners by leveraging its middleware and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions.

The distribution agreement between the two tech giants enables Avnet to distribute these additional cloud services initially in the United States and Canada. 

“Avnet is uniquely positioned to help business partners create, identify and capture SoftLayer opportunities based on our development of channel-friendly cloud offerings, and deep expertise in IBM software and technologies,” Avnet Technology Solutions Americas IBM Solutions Group General Manager and Senior Vice Presidents Fred Cuen said in a statement.

Avnet also said IBM business partners will benefit from Avnet CloudReady, a company strategy that’s aimed to assist channel partners with moving customers to the cloud. 

SoftLayer CEO Lance Crosby said in a prepared statement that “we strongly believe that finding and implementing the cloud infrastructure solutions that businesses need should be easy, and we’re collaborating with Avnet to help realize this vision.”

He added: “Avnet has a proven track record in developing integrated, packaged cloud offerings that are designed around the specific needs of the channel, which will accelerate IBM business partners’ ability to bring our solutions to customers.”

Separately, Big Blue this month added disaster recovery and managed security services to its SoftLayer cloud portfolio.

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