Avnet Launches Data Center Lifecycle Services Portfolio

Avnet Technology Solutions is launching a new set of services
focusing on data center technologies to help partners win business and
provide more comprehensive solutions to their customers.

The Avnet Data Center Lifecycle Services portfolio combines
supplier-branded resold services and managed, cold and professional
services that were formerly under Avnet’s SolutionsPath Services brand.
The services bridge the entire IT project lifecycle, from planning and
acquisition through deployment, management and ultimately the disposal
of IT assets.

According to Steve Kedzior, vice president and general manager of
services at Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas, CIOs report that
services account for more than 75 percent of their data center budgets.
To meet that demand, Avnet is investing in programs to enable VARs and
ISVs to expand their own services offerings, he said.

"This announcement is really about our continued investment in services
and our focus around the data center and the lifecycle of services,
allowing our business partners to get a broader wallet-share with their
client base, Kedzior told Channel Insider.

"Most of our partners are in the service business and have expressed a
desire to grow that part of their business. We really are listening to
that and are trying to assist them in that strategy," he said.

More than 80 Avnet service offerings are now bundled in the Avnet Data
Center Lifecycle Services portfolio. Partners can now access Avnet
service development managers for help with the sales process and
closing deals on service opportunities. Avnet has also partnered with
more than 250 services companies around the country to offer their
services through VARs and ISVs. IT asset and disposal services are also
on offer.
 
For solution providers looking to expand their cloud services
offerings, Avnet has included its CloudReady consultative services
including cloud strategy workshops and cloud assessment services.

"From an Avnet perspective, we really see the cloud as obviously very
broad and very complex – and at an inflection point in our industry,
from a technology standpoint — and we want to make sure we help our
business partners…   remain relevant in that cloud discussion
and be able to monetize that," Kedzior said.
 
"All of these are synergistic from the standpoint of enabling that
business partner to grow a strategic part of their business. We really
have an advantage on how all of these tie in to our overall solutions
distribution model," he said.

Vertical market-focused services solutions in energy, finance,
government, healthcare and retail are all available through Avnet’s
SolutionsPath programs.

“We began working with Avnet around data center services more than a
year ago. We wanted to capture the tremendous growth opportunities we
were seeing in the market by augmenting our in-house resources to
provide migration services,” said Craig Rock, president of Paradigm
Technology, an IT solutions provider and Avnet partner, in a statement.

“With Avnet’s help, we can now provide a much wider range of services,
including migration services, application re-engineering and thin
client assessment and deployment, without a lot of additional
investment on our part which accelerates our services strategy growth
faster than we could have on our own. We think that Avnet’s Data Center
Lifecycle Services are a very smart approach because they align with
exactly how our customers think about services and can easily be
included in solutions sales. We’re planning to explore virtual desktop
assessment and implementation services to further broaden our portfolio
and stay engaged with our customers as trusted advisors.”