IBM has deauthorized Synnex as a software distributor in the U.S., effectively ending the long-term relationship between the two companies, a move that began last January when IBM deauthorized Synnex on the hardware side.
IBM sent an e-mail to solution providers Thursday afternoon, citing what it said was a "mutual agreement" between the two companies. Executives from IBM and Synnex could not be immediately reached for comment.
The deauthorization goes into effect Oct. 1, 2009.
The move impacts fewer than 100 solution providers who must now transfer their software business to IBM's remaining distributors, Arrow Electronics, Avnet, Ingram Micro and Tech Data, a source said. IBM has not detailed its plans to help VARs move that business.
Last October, IBM informed Synnex that it could no longer sell IBM xSeries servers as of January 2009. At that time, Synnex CEO Kevin Murai said he was shocked by IBM's decision but he maintained that IBM remained a strong partner on the software side.
"It's business as usual there," Murai told Channelweb.com last October.
Ayman Antoun, vice president of Business Partners, Americas, at IBM, told Channelweb.com last fall that IBM wished to become "more relevant" with partners as an explanation of its decision to drop Synnex on the xSeries side.
"We also felt another approach is to become more relevant, more quickly to a fewer number. Do I need five distributors in the U.S.? If so, why? Can we capture business with less capacity to increase our relevance more quickly? There was a strong desire to become more relevant more quickly," Antoun said at the time.
