TD Synnex’s Sammy Kinlaw: CommunitySolv Unites TechSelect, Varnex And Stellr

Bringing TD Synnex’s Communities Closer 

The merger last year of Tech Data and Synnex into TD Synnex not only brought two distributors together to create the world’s largest IT distributor, it also brought Tech Data’s TechSelect and Synnex’s Varnex and Stellr communities together under a single organization called CommunitySolv.

While the three communities remain independent, CommunitySolv, under the direction of Sammy Kinlaw, TD Synnex’s senior vice president of sales communities for North America, is making it easier for partners to find benefits by working with two or more of them.

That was evident at last month’s TechSelect conference where solution providers from Varnex came together with the TechSelect community for the first time, Kinlaw told CRN. And, he said, he’s seeing interest in Varnex from TechSelect partners.

“TechSelect was mostly advanced technology, Varnex was mostly endpoint, and that still holds true,” he said. “But if you are a Varnex member and you have ideas about growing your advanced business, TechSelect does have more advanced solutions and trainings. So we are seeing some migration. … I am seeing partners who are joining both communities. I did not expect that.”

That move to embrace multiple communities under TD Synnex could expand this fall when TD Synnex holds its first CommunitySolv conference, which Kinlaw said will bring TechSelect, Varnex and Stellr community members together for the first time under one roof while introducing a completely new version of the Stellr community with a big focus on the needs of MSPs.

“It‘s a community based on next-gen offerings,” he said. “It’ll have security included. There will be cloud. There‘ll be data analytics, IoT, mobility, anything that’s based on a monthly recurring revenue stream that an MSP would be interested in.”

Partner communities, which have become a staple of distribution, bring together channel partners who pay to be members and enjoy shared benefits that typically include things like enhanced vendor support, discounted shipping, and opportunities to partner with peers across geographies or areas of technical expertise.

Here is a look at some of the changes that have happened to partner communities since TD Synnex was formed and how they are impacting solution providers.