D&H Joins Forces with AVG To Provide SMB-Friendly Antivirus Support

D&H Distributing is partnering with AVG to unlock its best-of-breed antivirus, threat detection and managed services tool set for the distributor's SMB channel.

The Harrisburg, Pa.-based distributor has been authorized to carry the Amsterdam-based security software vendor's complete business product portfolio and will differentiate itself through demand generation, marketing and technical support tools available to solution providers big and small, said Peter DiMarco, D&H's vice president of VAR sales.

"Every MSP and VAR we've talked to is focused on security," DiMarco said Tuesday at D&H's New England Technology Trade Show in Quincy, Mass. "It's a big area of concern."

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D&H is training its entire pre-sales associate team around AVG's Managed Workplace, CloudCare, Internet Security and Antivirus offerings, DiMarco said, and will also have experts available to do a deeper dive for partners looking to build more sophisticated AVG solutions.

AVG's extended road map in the SMB space, solid SMB channel program and ability to work with distribution from a billing and support standpoint made it appealing to D&H, DiMarco said. The distributor also valued AVG's integration with PSA tools and unique tool sets designed specifically to help MSPs manage business in a multitenant environment, DiMarco said.

From AVG's standpoint, the addition of D&H will help accelerate its plan to have virtually all channel business go through distribution, said Francois Daumard, AVG's vice president of global channel sales. AVG has realigned its sales and marketing teams to support a distribution-led model, Daumard said, and has changed its systems and processes to achieve better alignment with distributors.

"In order to gain scalability and reach and accelerate channel business, distribution is the right way to do it," Daumard said.

Even though AVG already has strong longtime partnerships with Ingram Micro and Lifeboat, the vendor wanted to bring D&H on board since Daumard considered it to be the most SMB-focused distributor in North America and AVG primarily serves the SMB market. Daumard said he has known D&H for a long time, and has always been impressed by its strategic model, people and way of doing business.

AVG is the only antivirus vendor that also has a remote monitoring and management (RMM) solution, Daumard said, and is therefore also capable of contributing to the growth of D&H's existing portfolio.

AVG will be a big part of D&H's strategy going forward, DiMarco said, which is focused around best-of-breed technologies that can scale in the SMB space and technologies that can augment an MSP's business without disrupting its existing practice.

"AVG is just the beginning of many partners we're going to be adding and announcements we're going to make to the market," DiMarco said.

DiMarco said AVG fits snugly into D&H's growing cloud practice, which is focused around providing VARs with easy tools for quoting, billing and provisioning, sales and marketing tools, and "concierge-style" services to help VARs build a cloud practice.

AVG said last month that it is being acquired by Prague, Czech Republic-based security technology developer Avast Software for $1.3 billion.

As hackers have evolved from being motivated by a deranged sense of amusement to seeking financial gain, the ransomware and viruses VARs are encountering have become more prevalent, said Kenny Rounds, owner of Taunton, Mass.-based Braver Technology Solutions.

"It's a profitable industry now, so it's just going to get worse," said Rounds, a longtime D&H partner. "Any data on-site is susceptible."

Three or four of Braver's clients have been hit by ransomware, and Rounds said he is committed to identifying more products that can thwart potent attacks.