Distributors and aggregators of technology products and services are jockeying for global dominance.

Welcome to our second-quarter distribution recap, where we sum up the biggest events of the last three months. We saw multiple acquisitions from companies like Nuvias, Pax8 and Telarus, and we saw numerous vendors turn to distribution to expand their sales footprint.

Before we get into it, we might as well address the elephant in the room. Why are we lumping distributors into the same category as what we’ve historically called master agents? Does an Ingram Micro really compare to a TBI? Admittedly, one model relies on a resale model while another relies on commissions. However, both the traditional disti and what we’re for now calling a services distributor (i.e. master agent) work as an intermediary between the technology supplier and the direct-selling partner. They voice the concerns of their agents and resellers to the vendors and provide a sort of herd immunity. Moreover, both company types are leaning deeper into cloud services and recurring revenue. And both are working to educate and train their partner bases to sell more. And some companies, like Pax8, are straddling the line between both business models.

Check out the slideshow above to see the latest news in the channel.