Tech Data Enhances Mobile Portfolio With AT&T Collaboration

Tech Data said it has expanded its carrier portfolio through an agreement with AT&T as part of its Channel Alliance Program.

In the deal, Tech Data will act as an agent for the second largest carrier in the country, offering AT&T mobile activations, products and solutions in the U.S. through its Tech Data Mobile Solutions division.

"We're very excited about our collaboration with AT&T," said Patrick Stokes, vice president of Tech Data Mobile Solutions. "When you think about the mobility landscape, and you think about the players -- especially from an enterprise perspective and our reseller community -- having AT&T gives us the breadth of the landscape. It gives us the complete mobility solution as it relates to a carrier-related strategy. Now when one of our resellers has a customer in need of a solution, we can provide that solution across the board. Having AT&T in our portfolio is critical for us."

unit-1659132512259

type

Sponsored post

Tech Data, Clearwater, Fla., said solution provider partners will be able to create bundled data solutions and are eligible for benefits including rewards for sales, more resources and reach, access to the product suite, and new incentives.

"Tech Data continues to actively expand its offerings to provide greater value for its resellers, and mobility is obviously a huge ongoing opportunity," said Scott Fluegge, president and general manager of JDL Technologies, No. 407 on the 2014 CRN Solution Provider 500. "It’s important to have a portfolio of industry leaders, such as AT&T, as well as innovators in the telecom and mobility space. At JDL Technologies we’ve been able to address a wide range of client needs, for a wide range of clients, through partners who are agile, well-rounded and highly motivated. It’s great to have choices, and it keeps the market dynamic."

Stokes said the AT&T agreement broadens the distributor's reach and allows it to solve more problems for solution providers.

"In my mind, we're not providing products, we're providing solutions," Stokes said. "At the end of the day, that's the direction that I want to take our mobility group. What we want to do is provide solutions, and those solutions solve customers' problems. And part of that is the value-add to our reseller community in terms of 'How can we package some of these solutions so that they can easily distribute to our reseller community?' If you put AT&T into that mix, now we have the full gamut to provide all the solutions that we need."

Research firm Gartner forecasts that revenue from mobile services will grow to $1.2 trillion by 2018, with the number of mobile connections reaching 8.5 billion. While Stokes forecasts significant growth in both the Tech Data Mobile Solutions division as well as its channel thanks to the collaboration with AT&T, the deal wasn't made for higher sales numbers as much as it was to be able to resolve any issue the company's partners come across.

"It's very strategic and it's a very big space, but it's more about the enablement of our reseller community," Stokes said. "It's a huge opportunity for all involved. This is not about boxes moved. It's not about how many times you touch a device and it's not about some of the metrics you typically see. For us it's about the innovative and creative things that we are doing to solve people's problems."

PUBLISHED FEB. 13, 2015