Synnex Varnex 2011: Three Questions for Rob Moyer
At Synnex Varnex 2011, The VAR Guy was once again privy to some one-on-one time with Synnex top brass. This time it was Rob Moyer, Synnex’s VP of Cloud Computing Programs, who gave The VAR Guy the lowdown on Synnex’s lofty direction into hosted solutions and a few words about the future of Synnex. Here’s the scoop …
The VAR Guy asked Rob Moyer:
1) Synnex has been talking up CLOUDSolv and RENEWSolv, but other distribution companies have similar cloud offerings. How does Synnex feel it differentiates itself?
Moyer said he’s a gadget-savvy guy with a background in software. And because of that, his eye for usability was unique. “When [we] design and build out programs, we’re [asking], ‘does this work?’ We took an end-user view of what cloud services look like and brought it back into the channel.” Synnex can attack the cloud market from a more pragmatic angle, he noted, because it’s more “nimble” than other distribution companies. But more than that, the user experience for Synnex’s cloud services would always be superior because “we have developers that are badged employees, and therefore, while we do partner on some of these [cloud] tools,” Synnex remains focused on internally developing the best stuff around, he said, adding Microsoft Windows Azure’s backbone has also helped in building a cloud model that allows for unique interoperability across vendors, ISVs and easy to use APIs.
2) Which Solv program is the most popular, and which one is just heating up?
RENEWSolv has seen the “most immediate return and [is the] most disruptive Solv we have,” Moyer said, but CLOUDSolv is getting a lot of interest, too. Still, RENEWSolv seemed to be the star for Moyer, due in part to the “single pane of glass” management platform for renewals (and much more.) “It has been well-received by manufacturers and partners,” and Synnex has vendors lined up to integrate with RENEWSolv. “I actually have more vendors than I can handle,” Moyer joked. Resellers see the tool as such a boon to productivity and business growth. “Partners are saying, ‘You enable me to take an administrative role off my heads, and I can give it my sales manger [instead of dealing with] an excel spreadsheet.'”
3) Are new Solv’s are on the horizon or do you see Solvs converging?
“It’s too early to tell,” said Moyer, “but it could, certainly.” Moyer couldn’t discuss specifics, but said Synnex will be “going down some paths that are really innovative.” Synnex’s services platform, if continually disruptive, could make Synnex a player in more than distribution. The VAR Guy thinks Moyer was being a bit cryptic, but it’s certainly possible that distribution companies could evolve beyond simply being a warehouse with partner training and instead switch gears to become arbiters of all large-scale cloud technology.
“This is what we’re doing as a business, and we’re shifting from the market,” said Moyer, alluding that Synnex would be soon changing the status quo for distribution.
