IT Distributor ScanSource Adds HPE Networking Products
Specialty technology distributor ScanSource is boosting its networking portfolio after reaching a distribution agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise for its networking products.
ScanSource, based in Greenville, S.C., will now distribute networking solutions from both HPE and Cisco.
The deal with HPE, announced Tuesday, will add wired, wireless, campus and data center networking solutions as well as routing switching, and network management security products to ScanSource's portfolio.
[Related: Partners: HP's $3 Billion Acquisition Of Aruba Networks Will Put Pressure On Cisco]
"This deal does two things," said Brent Busha, director of merchandising for ScanSource’s Networking and Security division: allow the distributor to sell the back-end infrastructure for its Aruba networking products - which ScanSource has been selling for about eight years - and maintain a partnership between a very good switch-and-routing manufacturer and one of the best wireless manufacturers, Busha said.
If you look at the competitive landscape, he said, after HP acquired Aruba last year (months before the company split into HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise), HPE gained a synergy between the front- and back-end technologies that nearly all other companies don’t have.
"Other businesses only own a piece of that technology; they don’t own the back-end. No one has that full solution besides Cisco and HP," Busha said.
And now, ScanSource will distribute both.
Christie Hamberis, senior vice president of ScanSource Networking and Security, said she believes that the fact that ScanSource is now distributing both Cisco and HPE products positions Scansource well to leverage many niche products it sells with top brand names like Cisco and HPE. "That is what differentiates us," she said.
Hamberis added that the deal will benefit ScanSource's partners because many already buy solutions from ScanSource, which will push the company closer to becoming a one-stop-shop for its partners.
One solution provider welcomed the announcement.
Adaptive Technology Solutions has purchased a lot of Aruba networking equipment from ScanSource for use in university settings, said Gregg DuBois, owner of the New Braunfels, Texas-based solution provider. Adaptive doesn’t carry HPE equipment today, and is still trying to evaluate what the addition of HPE networking products means for traditional Aruba resellers.
’I’m glad to hear this [news],’ DuBois told CRN. ’ScanSource is really a top-notch organization.’
According to a statement from ScanSource, the terms of the agreement give all of the distributor's business units access to both routing and switching products from HPE Aruba that complement the security cameras, point-of-sale systems, unified communications products and other IP devices ScanSource has built its reputation on.
In the new deal, resellers will be able to leverage the new offerings and provide a complete end-to-end solution that will run from the networking closet to the endpoint device.
In May 2015, HP acquired Aruba for $3 billion, stating that it would leverage its brand to deliver next-generation converged campus networking.
Michael Novinson contributed reporting to this story.