Tech Data is now using cloud services it acquired with Avnet Technology Solutions that were created for VMware vRealize to enhance automation for VxRail and VxRack environments.

Eric Barnhart, Vice President, Sales, Enterprise Solutions, North America, Technology Solutions Group, Tech Data

LAS VEGAS — Tech Data has announced that it is now bringing cloud plug-ins and other tools that Avnet Technology Solutions had been using with VMware to bear on Dell EMC VxRail and VxRack offerings. These distinct offerings, offered through the Technology Solutions business that came with Tech Data’s recent acquisition of ATS, significantly enhance automation of these hyper-converged solutions within data centres.

“Dell EMC has been very good at talking about the necessity of modernizing infrastructure in the last couple of days at Dell EMC World,” said Eric Barnhart, Vice President, Sales, Enterprise Solutions, North America, for the Technology Solutions Group within Tech Data. “Our growth with Dell EMC has been aligned with that messaging. Simply modernizing the data centre is not enough, however. It does not fully allow IT to deliver business value until you are able to redeploy resources. To do that, you have to automate processes within the data centre. That’s where the particular IP we originally developed at ATS around VMware vRealize Orchestrator environments comes into play.”

“While we had been using this around VMware at ATS, because VxRail and VxRack use VMware as the core basis of their virtualization, we are able to plug into that,” said Anuj Tuli, Director, Automation Services, at the Technology Solutions Group.

These multi-vendor plug-ins and services reduce time spent on manual processes by letting users create or cancel IT service management transactions and tickets for managing process and data integration. They also permit leveraging out-of-the-box sample workflows that accelerate time to market, while integrating into multi-vendor cloud solutions. Because the offerings are packaged and straightforward, they allow partners to use them to enhance their own services capabilities and practices. Given that VxRail in particular is an exceptionally strong channel product, significant partner demand for these offerings can be expected.

“Partners and customers can use the IP in these connectors to create value, and gradually transform their digital architecture to the next stage,” Tuli said. “This facilitates that digital transformation. It’s not something where we are trying to sell them another stack, that they need to rip and replace what they already have.”

Barnhart emphasized that the ability of these plug-ins to generate real value makes them of immense strategic value in Tech Data’s developing of this strategic business with both Dell EMC and VMware.

“Everything begins and ends with this conversation, among all customers who buy Dell EMC and VMware from us,” he said. “It’s a conversation about where the end customers are going, and dollars and cents and what it means for the business. Conversations about selling point products need to go away. These conversations need to be about where the customer wants to take the business.”

These cloud offerings are available to partners through both Technology Solutions’ Cloud Marketplace and Tech Data’s original StreamOne  cloud platform.