Distribution Watch: Ingram Micro, Synnex, Arrow Electronics

Happy Friday y’all, and welcome to Distribution Watch. This week we’ve got some awards-heavy news from Ingram Micro (IM), Synnex (SNX) and Arrow Electronics (ARW). You know the drill, so let’s dig in.

Ingram Micro: The value-added distributor has won Microsoft's (MSFT)'s Gold Level Excellence in Operations Award for “delivering market-leading operational excellence in supporting Microsoft technology over the past year,” according to a recent press release.

The award was presented to Ingram for exhibiting excellent performance in the North American channel, namely for superior operational excellence and maintaining 100 percent operations certification, among other distinctions. This marks the second consecutive year that Ingram has taken home Microsoft’s Gold Level Award.

"It's a great win for our team and an undeniable testimony to our successful business relationship with Microsoft," said Lynne Thornton, senior sales director of Partners Licensing at Ingram Micro North America, in a statement. “Our commitment to providing a stellar customer experience and our deep program knowledge are key differentiators that continue to set Ingram Micro apart as a strategic Microsoft partner."

Synnex: Dell has brought on Synnex as a broadline distribution partner in the United States, as the company looks to increase its distribution efforts, according to ChannelBuzz. Synnex will join Ingram Micro and Tech Data (TECD) as Dell’s third major distributor in the United States.

“We are very excited about having them [Synnex],” said Cheryl Cook, Dell’s channel chief, in an interview with ChannelBuzz. “It’s always smart to not be so dependent on a single relationship, and dual source is a healthy relationship for both of us. Synnex does a lot of small business and SMB, on the lower end of the market. They have an affinity and a really good reach into that partner community. They are somewhat complementary to Ingram and Tech Data.”

Dell’s deal with Synnex is expected to include traditional PC and client offerings as well as additional enterprise offerings, according to the report. Cook said that the company’s deal with Synnex would mirror those made with Tech Data and Ingram. For now, Synnex will only operate in the United States, although Canada is being considered for a later expansion of the program.

Arrow Electronics: Arrow has received the Global Sales Leadership Distributor award from Trend Micro for its knowledge of the distributor’s solutions and its excellence customer service in delivering those solutions.

The award was presented during last month’s inaugural Trend Micro Global Partner Summit in Las Vegas, where Trend Micro awarded partners for their service and specializations. The reward was also presented in recognition of Arrow’s sales growth and momentum with Tech Data this year, according to the press release.

“The success demonstrated by Arrow is truly impressive," said Partha Panda, the vice president of Global Channels and Alliances at Trend Micro. “Arrow resellers and end customers benefit from their knowledge of Trend Micro’s market-leading solutions and their demonstrated excellence in delivering solutions that help address today’s security and compliance challenges.”

That’s it for now, but we’ll be back next week, same time, same place, so make sure you stop by for more news. Have a great weekend, and keep on distributing.