D&H Distributing and WWT Team to Help Hard-Hit Education Customers

D&H Distributing has partnered with channel giant WWT to deliver more than 100,000 devices to students and educators across North America.

The move came in response to demand during the pandemic. WWT said that education customers were more pressured than many other verticals since they had no option to shut down. They were obligated to continue to teach the nation’s children and needed to do so as seamlessly as possible.

WWT maintains a suite of resources including team members with C-level government and education field expertise. It also has an Advanced Technology Center. The $600 million ”sandbox” lab facility is where the company conducts training, proofs of concept, complex technology integrations and develops various vertically-focused solutions.

Although WWT had expertise and resources, the company sought a partner with supply chain experience in education to fulfil the work. It called upon D&H Distributing to deliver “an exceptional volume” of endpoints and execute a plan with immediacy.

Within months, WWT and D&H delivered more than 100,000 laptops, including outfitting one of the largest school districts in Florida. The distributor supplied Chromebooks, networking solutions and management software supported by White Glove Professional Services including asset tagging and etching. It also offered plus “green shipping” projects that relieved districts from the burden of disposing of hundreds of computer cartons at a time.

Urgent Demand

WWT’s Shawn Rodriguez

Shawn Rodriguez is WWT’s vice president of state and local government and education. He saw the opportunity to help hard-hit school districts meet the urgent demand for remote networking and learn-from-home technologies.

“Working with D&H was one of the best partner experiences in my 25-plus years in IT sales. They were an exceptional partner in this venture,” he said.

“D&H’s team was extremely transparent and upfront about the process, including the realities of our timeline and any challenges we were facing. They needed accurate and honest information on how the transition to home environments was proceeding.”

Rodriguez said D&H “was willing to dig in its heels” to make sure the devices were deployed according to each district’s needs.

“It was a huge undertaking, yet they were proactive and hands-on.”

Rodriguez’s team is now looking to evaluate other classrooms. “We’ve developed a strong trust with D&H,” he said. “We’re looking to grow the relationships we’ve forged with them, and with the school districts we’ve guided through digital transformation.”