**Editor’s Note: Click here for a list of March’s important channel-program changes you should know.**

Tech distributor Avnet is bulking up its cloud marketplace, adding services from VMware and IBM.

The company announced plans Wednesday to offer the IBM Connections Cloud through the Avnet Cloud Marketplace. Avnet says it is the first distributor to sell the collaboration software.

Michele Stern, IBM’s vice president of global business partner sales, said the software lets businesses empower their employees to have a greater voice.

“By delivering IBM Connections, either on-premises or as SaaS on IBM Cloud, business partners can offer their customers the ability to safely and conveniently collaborate,” Stern said. “This will bring them fully into the conversations that create new routes to market, drive new revenue and inspire new ‘born in the cloud’ IBM solutions.”

It was Avnet’s second IBM-related announcement of the week. The company revealed on Tuesday that its cloud marketplace will offer VMware solutions on the IBM Cloud. The new offering aims to help Avnet partners offer a strong hybrid cloud strategy to their customers.{ad}

Avnet’s announcement comes two months after IBM and VMware announced a strategic partnership — an alliance at tackling hybrid enterprise cloud adoption.

“VMware solutions on the IBM Cloud represents a significant milestone because it brings two industry giants together to deliver the next generation of hybrid cloud computing solutions for the benefit of our partners,” said Tony Madden, Avnet’s senior vice president and supplier business executive. “By delivering the solution through the Avnet Cloud Marketplace, we will help accelerate the adoption of the enterprise hybrid cloud, taking full advantage of IBM Cloud’s global scale and footprint. This new offering enables our partners to help their customers easily embrace the cloud while preserving their existing investments and creating new business opportunities.”