Tech Data Tuesday combined its Client Systems and Peripherals divisions into a new business unit, dubbed Systems and Peripherals.
Tech Data said the new Systems and Peripherals division will bring PCs (workstations, desktops, notebooks and tablets) together with various peripherals, from displays and digital signage to printers and power supplies, in order to expose solution provider customers to a wider range of integrated product categories.
Wendy Maurer-Linsky, newly appointed as vice president of product marketing for the Systems and Peripherals division, said combining the different products under one roof will help solution providers break into new product areas and offer bigger solutions to their customers.
"The plan is to make it easier for VARs to get the support they need for the full solution sale," she said. "We hope to do more bundling of different products in this division because there's a natural fit there."
The Systems and Peripherals division, according to Tech Data, will focus on five subcategories: Visual Solutions (displays, digital signage), Imaging and Print (printers, copiers), Power and Energy Management (data center), Computing (desktops, notebooks, tablets), and Consumer Electronics.
The division also will offer training and education for the various product categories, and solution providers will be able to get hands-on experience with many of the products at the distributor's new Systems and Peripherals Experience Center located at Tech Data's headquarters in Clearwater, Fla.
Maurer-Linksy said Tech Data's focus will be to expose solution providers to overlapping product categories and get them up to speed quickly. "The [division's] products don't have long sales cycles with lots of certifications and authorizations," she said, "so the plan is to get them into real sales really fast."
Joseph Contreras, director of product and solutions marketing at Toshiba America Business Solutions, said Tech Data has helped his company, which focuses primarily on managed print services, transition into the emerging market of digital signage. "Tech Data played a key role in educating us on digital signage and introducing us to the different players so we could make the right partner connections," he said.
Contreras said Toshiba America Business Solutions now has a significant sales pipeline of digital signage solutions, which include not only the hardware but also managed services. He said the new division will help solution providers unlock new opportunities in related product categories they might not be familiar with today.
"This can help broaden the scope and breadth of offerings for Tech Data resellers," Contreras said.
PUBLISHED JULY 23, 2013
