IT solutions distributor Tech Data Corp. has announced several additions to its year-old TD Solutions Center, broadening the facility's offerings for government and education resellers.
The company, based in Clearwater, Fla., made the announcement during its TechEDG Government Services conference this week in Orlando, Fla.
"The TDSolutions Center has been so successful with our commercial customers that we've expanded our support for technologies and vertical market solutions ideal for public sector deployment," said Barb Miller, Tech Data's vice president of Government, Technical and Integration Services, in a statement.
"By demonstrating the feasibility of a new technology, resellers have been able to overcome many end users' reluctance to adopt a more cost-effective solution and replace inefficient but familiar legacy systems," she added. "The same is true for resellers trying to influence IT procurement officers for local governments and school systems."
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These additions are part of Tech Data's ongoing efforts to refresh and expand the TDSolutions Center. Since its creation a year ago, Tech Data has expanded the number of manufacturers and software publishers represented from 80 to more than 120. In addition, the facility now features more document imaging, IP communications, physical and network security, presentation and video conferencing solutions.
Tech Data said that resellers who serve government and education verticals can now leverage the solutions center to demo that wide variety of technologies.
"We've used our solution center for training resellers, but we haven't focused on government resellers previously," said Barb Miller, who manages the TDSolutions Center and the TechEDG (government and education) team. "We will start by doing webinars or live meetings, and we can also offer that kind of training remotely.
The solutions center has been a boon for Tech Data's resellers to bring their customers to the center, Miller said.
"All the end-customers who have come to the lab have signed a purchase order that day," she said.
The distributor noted that more governments are looking to add capabilities for capturing, archiving and accessing public records. In addition, schools are looking to IP telephony to cut costs and improve communications among students, teachers and parents. Network security has become more crucial for governments as they offer more services online. Schools, buses and governments also are looking to deploy IP video surveillance.
The facility is available to Tech Data partners free of charge, and resellers should contact their Tech Data sales rep or the company's technical services team to schedule demonstrations.
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