Rapidly growing opportunities in AI are part of the reason for success in the last year and hope in the next, but more traditional areas like SMB and MSPs have also been doing well.
Michelle Biase, general manager of D&H Canada
D&H Distributing recently announced, as part of their double digit sales in North America, strong sales in its Canadian market, particularly in western Canada. While new technologies were strong, and included a 20 percent increase in Modern Solutions, a more traditional segment of the D&H business, the SMB, did well, as did the emerging MSP space, where D&H has become active later than some of its distribution rivals.
“The Canadian distribution channel hasn’t been consistent over the last 13 weeks, in terms of rolling averages,” said Michelle Biase, General Manager of D&H Canada. “That has not been the case for D&H.”
D&H says that it anticipates continued sales growth and channel investment for the calendar year ahead despite the struggles of much of the IT industry, with many companies seeing reductions in staff and continued inflation.
“There are several factors which account for this,” Biase said. “We see ourselves as an aggregator, which opens up new opportunities. The PC refresh that was delayed by COVID is now under way, which is being assisted by the forthcoming Windows 10 End of Service deadline. The PC refresh also means that users will have to process more data at the site, which needs to be powered at the PC.”
The growth of AI, in large part because of the ongoing need for cybersecurity to combat AI-powered threats, is another key factor.
“High growth is coming in part because there’s a lot of buzz around AI right now,” Biase said “A lot of people are figuring out the story going forward, even if some partners are not yet sure what they are bringing. There’s a lot that partners can do today even with the uncertainly around AI. We have several programs we have brought to market that can help partners monetize this today.” D&H will help VARs and MSPs understand how different vendors are utilizing AI and how it fits into their individual clients’ business models, including through different verticals.
Microsoft’s new Copilot product will be a principal part of this.
“AI is now coming to the front office,” Biase said. Microsoft will be leveraging AI to help users generate content with the introduction of Copilot.”
Biase stated that D&H has been largely resistant to the declines some distributors have had since the end of the pandemic.
“A lot of growth in some consumer areas was driven by pandemic, as partners helped fit users for home-based use cases,” she said. “This was not a big factor for us, so we think we are resisting market declines.
“Two things also happened in the pandemic: people held on to their devices; and there was also a supply chain issue, so there was a shortage of devices. The end of these issues will drive this conversation.”
Growth is not built solely on new technologies like AI, however.
“As our technology needs evolve, it’s really about the speed of adoption, and we have really built our practices around that,” Biase noted. “Digital signage and collaboration have seen 40% growth, with hybrid being very strong. They are among our fastest growing areas.”
MSP opportunities have increased as well.
“We have a complete offering to allow MSPs or hardware vendors to transform,” Biase said. We have signed on new vendors for this like ESET, Acronis, Proofpoint, and Check Point and we are looking to expand vendor partnerships further.”
Biase then laid out how this strategy will continue in the year ahead.
“We will continue to see double digit growth and build for growth strategy,” she said. “We’ve broadened our line card, and added new configuration facilities. We will also be coming out with some new news in new couple months on new programs that we will be bringing to market.”
