ScanSource Exec: ‘The Age Of Convergence Is Truly Upon Us’

‘[Convergence means] you’re now going to sell more to your end customers. You’re going to be more valuable to them. You’re going to have increased wallet share. You’re going to see higher margins,’ Tony Sorrentino, president of ScanSource’s Specialty Technologies business, tells an audience of solution providers at the distributor’s Partner First conference.

For ScanSource, 2025 was a year of transition as the distributor’s channel partners looked to move beyond a focus on hardware sales with some wrapping of services, said Tony Sorrentino, president of the Greenville, S.C.-based company’s Specialty Technologies business.

Sorrentino, speaking to an audience of solution providers at the ScanSource Partner First conference, held this week in Arlington, Texas, urged partners, many of whom have focused for years on specific technology silos, to branch out and adopt a solutions focus.

“Really, 2025 is about recognizing that we’ve got to transition to something bigger and better, and we want to help you do that,” he said. “And we’re uniquely positioned to help you do that. We want to transition you from a narrow offering to solution selling. It’s a word we’ve used a lot, but this is the time [for this] to happen. … Your end users want outcomes. They want simple outcomes that work.”

[Related: ScanSource CEO: Tariffs Moved Customer Orders Up, Government Uncertainties Remain]

Solution providers have to transform their business to focus on solutions, which first requires a transformation of their priorities, Sorrentino said. And that means working with ScanSource on what Sorrentino called “convergence,” something the distributor has been talking about for a couple of decades while it has put together the range of technologies needed, he said.

“Convergence” used to mean bringing voice, data and video together in solutions, he said.

“It’s way more than that now,” he said. “And we really feel strongly about this, that the age of convergence is truly upon us. Many of you have heard this for a very, very long time, but what’s happening now is you have cloud platforms out there delivering infrastructure and applications at scale. You have these incredibly smart edge devices that are kicking out data at rapid speeds, massive amounts of data at rapid speeds, with AI and analytics [in] real time [are] pulling value out of that data. All these things are driving convergence to where suddenly, hardware, software and services can no longer be delivered in a silo. They have to be delivered together. Does any customer want you to keep cybersecurity separate from all the other things that you’re doing for them? No, it’s an integrated solution.”

Convergence is reshaping the partner landscape because customers don’t buy technology in silos but instead want to buy outcomes, Sorrentino said.

“[Convergence means] you’re now going to sell more to your end customers,” he said. “You’re going to be more valuable to them. You’re going to have increased wallet share. You’re going to see higher margins. You’re going to have stronger relationships. And you’re going to differentiate yourselves in a very crowded market. So not only is it an offensive move, but it’s also a defensive move because you have the IT infrastructure, and they have cloud and service providers and MSPs. These worlds are quickly coming together. You have to defend against these new entrants as the lines blur, but you also have an opportunity to go grow and tackle these new opportunities that make sense.”

ScanSource is uniquely positioned to help channel partners take advantage of convergence, starting with the expertise and specialization the distributor brings for key technologies including mobility and barcode, networking, physical security, point of sale, payment terminals, communications, connectivity and cloud services, along with best-of-breed manufacturers, Sorrentino said.

“We pride ourselves on making sure that we not only know the products of our suppliers, but we know their programs,” he said. “We know their offerings. Sometimes, with a supplier, knowing more about their partner program is even more valuable than knowing about their technology or the product that they sell. So we pride ourselves on our expertise there.”

Getting Down To Basics On Convergence

Sorrentino, in a separate conversation with CRN, said that ScanSource wants to help its channel partners improve their competition in a fast-changing world.

“Where it used to be about voice, data and video coming together, now you have cloud platforms that are deploying infrastructure and applications at scale,” he told CRN. “You have super intelligent edge devices that are generating massive amounts of data. And you have AI and analytics that are pulling value out of that data [in] almost real time. Things are happening at a much faster pace. Solutions are becoming more complicated. When you add in the need for cybersecurity and other services, managed services around everything being sold in the IT channel today, the need for our customers to embrace this new level of convergence is super important.”

Sorrentino’s goal is to get ScanSource’s Special Technology Solutions division channel partners to work with Intelisys to build those solutions and better compete with their peers who are focused on recurring revenue and managed services.

“Convergence is not only creating opportunity for them to sell other things, but it’s also causing them to create a defensive posture because suddenly you have MSPs with marketplaces that can sell hardware,” he said. “You have a lot of lines that are blurring. That is putting a lot of pressure on our reseller customers.”

Ansley Hoke, senior vice president of ScanSource’s Integrated Solutions Group, told CRN the distributor is educating its specialty technology partners on the importance of convergence and connectivity.

“As more devices need to be connected, it is on both sides of our house, from the Intelisys side and the ScanSource side,” she said. “That is a core competency of both. Not only the markets but also the technologies and the consumption models also converge.”

ScanSource acknowledges that it is not easy for a channel partner take on all these new technologies on their own, Hoke said.

“That’s why we are really rallying around the new Integrated Solutions Group to help them be able to be additive, whether it’s partnering with their peers or using our services arm to help them in deployments,” she said. “We help make it easier for them to be additive to their current solution stack. It’s not easy. Oftentimes, you’re going to have to partner. They look to us to help them with market information and to utilize us and our reach and scale to close incremental business.”

ScanSource’s move to bring convergence to its partner community is very timely for a large part of the distributor’s base, said Bill Birdwell, partner manager at CompuCom, a Fort Mill, S.C.-based solution provider and ScanSource channel partner.

“Everybody’s been talking convergence for a long time, and we’ve been doing it for quite a while ourselves,” Birdwell told CRN. “We’ve been doing software and services and hardware all built into complete solutions.”

CompuCom has been getting recurring revenue via services for a big part of its business, Birdwell said.

“But we sell a lot of hardware without services attached,” he said. “In fact, a lot of our services customers, quite honestly, sometimes they don’t even know we sell hardware. It’s our best-kept secret. So we’re trying to change that now.”

Bringing hardware into services deals can sometimes be difficult, Birdwell said.

“Mostly what I found over my career is the services reps don’t want to bring your hardware in because they’re selling multimillion-dollar contracts, and if you [mess] up one order on a PC, it jeopardizes everything. ... [Mess] up on a mouse and jeopardize a multimillion-dollar contract. So we struggle with that. We’re trying to figure out how to combine the two.”

Megatrends Driving Convergence

Sorrentino during his keynote said six “megatrends” are driving the IT market convergence and ScanSource’s business. These trends include the following:

• Hardware is where the physical and the digital come together. “How many solutions can happen without some sort of hardware?” he said.
• Cloud and subscription. “We all know that everything is moving to cloud,” he said. “Everything is moving to subscription. If you’ve been selling on-prem coms, you’ve experienced this more than anyone.”
• Connectivity and infrastructure. “It’s about tearing down boundaries,” he said. “We're seeing 5G rollouts, IoT, next-gen networks. We’re talking about connecting people, devices, data, in ways that you couldn’t even imagine years ago.”
• Cybersecurity and AI. “They are no longer nice add-ons or nice-to-have,” he said. “These are integral parts of a solution.”
• Digitization and automation. “The front line of business is changing,” he said. “Everything’s going digital for the front line. Smart devices and automation are changing the way people work, the way work gets done. They’re more efficient. They’re more effective. It’s giving time back.”
• Channel enablement and supplier reach. “Nobody can do this alone,” he said. “It takes a village. We are the village, and we can all work together to help you all grow and scale your business.”

While Sorrentino runs ScanSource’s Specialty Technology division, he said his organization is working closely with Intelisys, which ScanSource acquired in 2016, as part of the distributor’s focus on convergence with its channel partners.

“Intelisys is all about connectivity, cloud. and software,” he said. “These are sold in a different manner. These are sold in an agency model where you receive a commission. You get that mailbox money. If you know anything about the importance of adding recurring revenue to your business, it increases the multiple on your EBITDA. One day, when you’re ready to sell, retire and sail around the world, you’re going to be able to buy a nicer boat because the percentage of your revenue is going to be more tied to recurring revenue.”

ScanSource last year acquired Advantix to form its Integrated Solution Group, which Sorrentino said is charged with wrapping value-added services around the hardware the distributor offers.

“What ISG really emphasizes is that technology distribution is more than just moving products,” he said. “We are here to build integrated solutions.”

ScanSource this year also launched the Channel Exchange corporate marketplace, which Sorrentino called a platform for transacting SaaS solutions.

“It simplifies the buying and selling of software and subscription services,” he said. “It gives you speed, flexibility and access to a wide portfolio of cloud-first solutions. … You’re going to see, I think, as we invest in the future, our focus is going to be in this area. It’s about adding capabilities to help all of you scale.”