SMB VAR-focused distributor D&H Canada has added four key new vendors in an effort to bolster its business in computer components. The distributor has inked deals with AMD, Cooler Master, HighPoint, and Seagate, giving it a number of new options to offer solution providers from processors and graphics cards through to storage.

While it’s a play to build its business with system builders, Tobin said there’s also a significant opportunity for VARs getting involved in the PC upgrade cycle. While gamers and other performance enthusiasts have long been a major target audience for components retailers and independent system builders, as more organizations seek to extend the lives of their PCs, the average SMB VAR is more likely to get involved in the components game.

“As people defer or postpone spends on hardware refresh, a lot of corporate customers elect to upgrade, and we’ve got the fundamental building blocks for that. It makes perfect sense for us,” said Greg Tobin, general manager of D&H Canada.

He added the components business isn’t really an expansion market, “but it is under-penetrated right now.”

The new vendors bring a variety of new product lines and capabilities on line for the distributor. Under the deal, D&H will be able to sell:

• AMD: CPUs, processors, video and graphics cards
• Cooler Master: Fans and heatsinks, power supplies, ATX and mini-ATX cases, notebook accessories, and input devices
• HighPoint: SAS/SATA RAID storage solutions, including the RocketStor brand, with Thunderbolt compatibility
• Seagate: Hard drives and SSD products including server, SATA and notebook drives

Those new vendors are being added to existing components vendors in the D&H family, which include Corsair for memory, Antec for cases, Nvidia for video cards and graphics, and Microsoft and Logitech for input/output and peripherals.

The distributor has a pretty extensive offering in the space, Tobin said, but there’s still a major vendor or two he’d like to bring to on-board to round out the offering. “Without naming any names,” Tobin suggested that in particular, a major chipmaker that is not AMD “would give our customers a lot of flexibility and strength.”

D&H’s Retail Play

The components business isn’t the only area expanding for D&H. As evidenced by its recent deal to bring Dell Canada to more retail and e-tail partners, the distributor is also building up its presence in the retail market. Supporting that, D&H Canada has recently hired industry veteran Shawn Snobelen, a familiar face in the channel community, as its new sales manager for retail and e-tail, and Tobin said to expect more on that front.

More generally, the distributor continues to make plans to move into a new and expanded facility in the Mississauga area. With work on the new warehouse and office now underway, Tobin said he expects the company to move in by June of 2014.