D&H Distributing Leads Partners Through Windows 11 Device Refresh

Windows 10 support has ended, sparking one of the biggest refresh cycles in years. For partners, this isn’t just about upgrading devices. It’s about boosting security, improving productivity, and unlocking new opportunities with AI. In this CRNtv interview, Neil Stafford, vice president of U.S. commercial field sales at D&H Distributing, shares how the D&H Device Refresh program helps partners take advantage of this moment.

Sydney: Before we get started, tell us a bit about your role at D&H.

Neil: I am the vice president of the U.S. field sales organization, so I work very closely with our customers and our vendor partners every day.

Sydney: Can you tell us about the Device Refresh program at D&H? What is it, and how does it benefit partners?

Neil: Yeah, so absolutely. We’ve assembled a great team here at D&H that is dedicated to educating our partners on the risks and opportunities ahead. We are hyper-focused on enabling our partners to have solution-based conversations.

So, what does that mean? Our sales teams and our Microsoft business unit are ensuring that customers know what end-of-support implications are. Microsoft is no longer providing patches, creating risk for our end users. And according to analysts, there’s an estimated $10.5 trillion in security breaches (in 2025).

Sydney: How does the Device Refresh program help partners leverage AI tools, as well as evaluate and quote AI-related opportunities as they come to market?

Neil: Sure. We want to make sure that our customers understand the difference between AI PCs built with entry-level neural processor units, or NPUs, managing about 10 to 12 TOPS—trillions of operations per second—versus a Copilot+ PC, which is going to run at about 40 TOPS, which is a big deal.

We provide technical assessments to evaluate what users within a customer’s environment are in most need of this and which are at most risk. So, you’re going to consider things like HR as a risk, finance, IT, and accounting. All those things need to be considered as we do that assessment with our customers for their end users.

And, you know, the opportunity here is that Microsoft expects that by selling the full stack—an AI PC with Windows, with deployment, with Microsoft 365 and AI services—our customers will get 8X deal size opportunities out of this change.

Sydney: After Windows 10 support officially ends, will D&H continue to help its partners, so their end users don’t face disruptions to their business?

Neil: We want our partners to engage with our inside sales team, field sales team and pre-sales engineering folks here at D&H, along with our Microsoft business unit. They are all trained and ready to go.

We want to make sure that we’re helping folks understand how to attach Microsoft Cloud to all their devices, and that our engineers are ready and able to jump on calls with our customers on their behalf—to work with their end users to help build out solutions that’ll drive profit by attaching Microsoft 365 and Copilot.

Sydney: For partners ready to take the next step, where can they go to learn more?

Neil: Engage our sales team here and work with our Microsoft business unit. We have dedicated resources managing most of the system lines, including HPI, Lenovo, Dell, Acer and Microsoft Surface.

And lastly, our folks here at D&H—we’ve created a great microsite, and it’s available for everybody to find additional tools and resources.

We’ve got a great team here to help you finance all of those opportunities—from net terms to flooring to many other creative financial vehicles that are available through D&H.

Partners can find everything they need about the D&H Device Refresh program at DandH.com.