In addition to covering both Canada and the U.S., the new Pivot3 deal covers both Arrow’s distribution [ECS] and contract marketing [AIS] businesses.
Mark Maisano, Pivot3’s VP of channel sales
In April, Austin-based hyper-converged vendor Pivot 3 announced Acuity, a priority-aware HCI software platform aimed at the enterprise that was the fruit of their 2016 merger with NextGen. In August, they restructured their partner program, which had enhancing the channel’s ability to sell Acuity as one of its objectives. Now they are entering to a related initiative, with the announcement of a new partnership with Arrow Electronics. The deal covers both Arrow’s ECS [distribution] and AIS [contract marketing] sides, and includes both the United States and Canada.
“Arrow’s integration capabilities and contract manufacturing, together with their distribution reach, provides a unique ability for the marketplace today,” said Mark Maisano, Pivot3’s VP of channel sales. “I spent 24 years in distribution and am familiar with the investments distributors make. Arrow has always served a strong partner ecosystem and maintained their relationships for a very long time. They have a strong legacy in the enterprise data centre and storage. Now they are driving a solution conversation that benefits both partners and end customers.”
The relationship came about because of Pivot3’s relationship with Lenovo, who are also a key Pivot3 partner. Pivot3’s relationship with Lenovo will also be impacted by this deal.
“The catalyst was on the contract manufacturing side,” Maisano said. “We have a long-standing OEM relationship with Lenovo, and Arrow also has a relationship with Lenovo. “Our relationship with Arrow began around AIS contract manufacturing with Lenovo.” The deal will also see Arrow ECS provide configuration services for Pivot3’s platform on Lenovo servers, as well as provide broader distribution services.
“These services will include typical distribution services such as marketing services and business intelligence, but they will also create toolsets from a configuration perspective,” Maisano said. “This will make it easier for partners to quote Pivot3, and reduce their time to market.”
Pivot3 has a large channel, and previously their distribution was handled by Ingram Micro and Promark, which is now owned by Ingram Micro. Those relationships remain in place. The Arrow relationship is, however critical in expanding Pivot3’s move into the enterprise space that intensified with the launch of Acuity.
“Acuity was a main facet in our decision to expand our distribution,” Maisano said. “Arrow gives us a much better reach into the enterprise space. Arrow also bodes well in the surveillance side of the portfolio.”
Maisano said that many of their current partners are capable of selling and installing Acuity, and that they have seen great growth rates from its inception. They expect Arrow to bring in significant new partners, but doesn’t think that they will conflict with their existing partner base.
“Arrow will be critical because they bring us into a different set of enterprise partners who we weren’t selling to previously,” he indicated. “They serve a different market, so they won’t displace revenue from our existing channel.”
All of this means big things for Pivot3, Maisano said.
“Arrow will add to our reach on both the ECS and AIS side,” he said. “This agreement is for North America, but we expect it will eventually extend to other regions of the world. We are very excited about where we are taking the business.”
