Distribution Watch: Novus, Tech Data, Ingram Micro

Greetings, sports fans, and welcome to Distribution Watch, our weekly recap of all things distribution-related. This week we’ve got news from Novus, Tech Data (TECD) and Ingram Micro (IM), so unpack the tailgate party, grab a cold one and settle in.

Novus: The boutique telecommunications and IP distributor has begun selling the Presence line of UC headsets by Sennheiser. The Presence series encompasses two premium Bluetooth headsets—the Presence UC (for Unified Communications) and Presence UC ML (for Microsoft Lync).

The UC line is fully compatible with all leading UC platforms and designed for multi-connectivity, so the headsets can switch easily between softphone and mobile calls.

The Presence UC ML has those capabilities and is optimized for the Microsoft Lync UC platform.

Tech Data: The Clearwater, Fla.-based distributor has completed its acquisition of Brightstar Corp.'s 50 percent ownership interest in TDMobility, the business unit of Tech Data committed with helping solution providers enter the mobile market. TDMobility provides a complete, end-to-end mobility solution from device selection and activation to security and mobile device management in the data center, according to Tech Data. TDMobility was formed as a U.S. joint venture between Tech Data and Brightstar in April 2011.

"Acquiring full ownership of the joint venture reflects our commitment to grow our presence in the U.S. mobility distribution and services market," said Joe Quaglia, senior vice president, U.S. Marketing, and president, TDMobility. "Mobility is an important element of our diversification strategy and TDMobility's unique capabilities provide value-added resellers with a simple platform from which to offer a complete mobility solution to end users. We thank Brightstar for its partnership in helping to establish and expand the joint venture.”

Ingram Micro: The technology distributor extraordinaire has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Shipwire Inc., provider of global fulfillment services for emerging multi-channel brands. The Shipwire platform provides on-demand e-commerce fulfillment and supply chain management from a network of global pick, pack and ship warehouses to more than 1,000 emerging brands and web retailers. According to Ingram Micro, Shipwire has pioneered cloud logistics with on-demand fulfillment center and shipping tools, web services and innovative developer tools, that can all be used together to solve complex global logistics problems.

Shipwire serves brands from more than 50 countries, selling to buyers across the world from facilities in North America, Europe and Asia. Shipwire will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Ingram Micro. Damon Schechter, founder and CEO of Shipwire, will continue to lead the company as president of Shipwire, reporting directly to Robert Gifford, Ingram Micro executive vice president, Global Logistics. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close before the end of the year.

And that’s Distribution Watch for this week. Tune in next week and see what’s going on in the distribution game. Until then, stay safe.