It’s happening tonight; a first of a kind in the distribution channel. D&H Distributing Canada is hosting a reception called BeerFest for Toronto-area VARs.
BeerFest will have beer available in case you were wondering and will also have executives from D&H Canada, Cisco Canada and Microsoft Canada to talk to you. They might even put on the hockey game between rivals Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadians.
BeerFest will take place at ORO Restaurant in downtown Toronto. ORO Restaurant is located on 45 Elm Street near the World Biggest Bookstore if you are looking for a landmark. You can call ORO at 416-597-0155 if you get lost. Before I tell you more please drink responsibly. Now participants can expect both business content and casual conversation during the proceedings.
Greg Tobin, the GM of D&H Canada said it’s an honour to be part of The BeerFest event, and to help reintroduce SMB Nation as a source of enjoyable and educational opportunities for SMB resellers in Canada.
Meanwhile, back at D&H headquarters in Harrisburg, Penn., the distributor introduced the D&H Solutions Lab.
The Solutions Lab is an environment that can accommodate up to 36 attendees, in addition to allowing access via live streaming video for as many other resellers as would like to attend, depending on the event. VARs will observe as a seasoned D&H technician conducts an intricate, step-by-step tutorial of how to build a specific SMB server solution in front of their eyes. In many circumstances, reseller partners will be able to participate during a session by purchasing identical products and constructing/configuring them in tandem with the D&H technician. Seminars will also focus on sales strategies to help VARs sell these systems. Reseller attendees can ask questions live or virtually during events, about both the system and the sales process.
Instruction will include extreme close-up photography that is so detailed, the camera can show a view from inside the system chassis itself. These images will be projected onto a screen in the Lab and streamed via the Internet, so attendees can follow along with the smallest particulars.
Websense bolsters Arrow security
,Websense has expanded its distribution agreement with Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions (NYSE: ARW), to include North America. Arrow ECS has been distributing Websense solutions in Europe since 2001.
Mike Nowlan, vice president of the security, virtualization and networking practices for Arrow ECS in North America, said the addition of Websense to the Arrow ECS security portfolio underscores our commitment to delivering best-in-breed security products to enable resellers to address their customers’ business needs.
Synnex gets really into the CE space
A very interesting development at Synnex as the distributor promoted Fred Towns to be the president of not one but both of its consumer electronics divisions: New Age Electronics and Jack of All Games. The position became available because Adam Carroll will be retiring at the end of the month.
Carroll co-founded and led New Age Electronics before Synnex acquired it in 2008. Peter Larocque, President of U.S. Distribution for Synnex called Carroll a visionary in the consumer electronics industry.
Avnet signs two
Rorke Data Inc. and Cymbet Corp.
have inked separate deals with Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT). This means that Rorke value line of storage products will be made available to Avnet’s reseller network.
Cymbet’s entire line of EnerChip solid state batteries and development tools will be on Avnet’s line card.
