Distribution Watch: Tech Data

Happy Bastille Day! (Okay, it’s officially on the 14^th of July, but we love crepes and red wine, so we’re starting our celebrating early.) Welcome to this week’s Distribution Watch, our weekly recap of goings on in the distribution space. This week we’ve got news from Tech Data (TECD)—because there is so much of it—so enjoy your French fries, French dressing, French bread, and to drink, Peroo.

First off is Tech Data’s agreement with EMC whereby Tech Data will distribute data protection solutions including EMC Data Domain protection storage systems, EMC Data Protection Suite software and enhanced integration with leading backup and archive applications.

According to the distributor, The new EMC data protection products provide the following benefits to solution providers:

• Scalability and Performance: Data Domain protection storage systems provide 10 times the scalability and four times the performance of the previous generation of systems, enabling better consolidation of backup and archive workloads.
• Optimized Data Protection: Within virtual environments, EMC Avamar 7 and EMC NetWorker 8.1 deliver thirty times faster restores with changed block tracking support, VMware-centric management with a new vSphere web UI. Avamar 7 also provides instant access to allow a VM backup to be ready to use in less than two minutes.
• Enhanced Backup Efficiency: Deeper integration between Avamar and Data Domain systems, as well as native NetWorker snapshot management for EMC VMAX, VNX and RecoverPoint.
• Enhanced Visibility for Application Owners: New integrations with enterprise applications deliver increased control and allow application owners to better protect critical business applications with direct backup support for Oracle Exadata, SAP and SAP HANA.
• Expanded Archive Support: Data Domain systems now support over twenty archive applications that provide file, email, SharePoint, content management, and database archiving.

The distributor also announced it has received certification as a Cisco Systems (CSCO) Advanced Technology Distributor for the Cisco Unified Computing System (ATD-UCS). This new certification empowers Tech Data to register Cisco UCS deals on behalf of non-certified two-tier partners, while they are in the process of becoming certified, using a Cisco-approved exception process, and allows Tech Data to offer and perform on-site installation services for Cisco UCS.

To earn the Cisco ATD-UCS certification, Tech Data had to deliver $5 million of UCS BTO business through the configuration center with no customer satisfaction issues.

Tech Data also announced its partnership with BitTitan to offer its software solutions including MigrationWiz through Tech Data's TDCloud business unit. BitTitan's automated solutions simplify the adoption and optimization of new messaging systems by using cloud technologies.

Resellers are also able to bundle MigrationWiz with other services, software, and hardware from Tech Data. Other benefits of MigrationWiz include:

• Fully automated email migration services
• A singular, web-based interface for all migrations with no hardware or software to install
• Migration of emails, calendars, contacts, and more to new systems with no impact to the end user's daily business operations
• Complete with 24/7 technical support with each MigrationWiz license

Finally, the distributor entered into an agreement with LANDesk Software, which acquired Shavlik Technologies earlier this year, to offer Shavlik's products and services. Shavlik offers two primary product lines: Protect and SCUPDates, both of which are immediately available for purchase through Tech Data's Advanced Infrastructure Solutions (AIS) division.

Shavlik Protect is a patch management product for both client and server devices that offers IT administrators agent or agentless flexibility, while Shavlik SCUPDates is an add-on offering to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) that seamlessly expands patching capabilities to include third-party applications.

We told you there was a lot to digest. And with all that French food to go with Bastille Day, we won’t be eating again for a while. So be sure to check back next week and until then, stay safe.