D&H Distributing announced at the XChange Solution Provider event in Orlando, Fla., yesterday, that it has developed a new roster of services designed to enable SMB resellers to profit from a comprehensive suite of cloud solutions. Foremost among these, the distributor has become a strategic distribution partner for Cloud Nation’s innovative cloud solutions platform and community portal, which delivers a comprehensive roster of training, services and technologies needed for SMB resellers to sell and maintain cloud-based infrastructures.
Cloud Nation launched in January as a membership-based Cloud Services Aggregator, delivering a full range of solutions and services to allow resellers in the SMB market to sell cloud-based infrastructures. The portfolio of resources it offers for reseller includes:
· Initial “Cloud Essentials” training and certification.
· Access to additional, advanced training/certification.
· Access to a Cloud Solutions Platform, which offers amenities such as virtual desktops and servers, turn-key cloud-based infrastructure solutions and ongoing managed services for the end-customer.
· Access to the Cloud Nation Community Portal containing peer advice, news, product information and support.
· Ongoing sales and marketing support.
· Multi-tiered billing options.
Jeff Davis, senior VP of Sales at D&H, spoke about Cloud Nation at the XChange Solution Provider conference in Orlando in a Microsoft Keynote panel presentation on distribution and the cloud on March 10.
“Independent resellers are hungry to start making money in the cloud, and plenty of vendors are looking to see their products applied in these environments,” Davis said. “Yet there is a certain amount of complexity in learning, deploying and maintaining these virtualized solutions that puts it beyond the means of the average VAR selling into regional and small business environments. Cloud Nation delivers comprehensive resources, filling in the knowledge or technology gaps that might hinder an independent reseller from thriving in this category. We’re proud to be able to partner with Cloud Nation in offering this solutions platform, which outpaces anything currently in the SMB sector designed for this purpose.”
“The cloud has been inaccessible to many SMB VARs, yet 63% of small and medium size businesses say they’re looking to make the transition in the next six months,” noted Tom Poole, CEO and co-founder at Cloud Nation. “Cloud Nation is a comprehensive cloud solutions aggregator, empowering VARs to embrace this opportunity. We’ve had a long term relationship with D&H and there is no distributor we’d rather partner with to drive the Cloud Nation. Together we can significantly increase the reseller’s ability to generate ongoing revenues in a market that is exploding with potential.”
Membership to Cloud Nation will require resellers to complete the Company’s Cloud Essentials training and become “CNCPs” (Cloud Nation Certified Professionals). Member VARs will be able to sell to a roster of cloud-based technologies from top-flight vendors through Cloud Nation, such as virtual desktops and servers from leading manufacturers. These vendors’ products can be offered to end-customers under the VAR’s own brand. Vendor partners include Microsoft, Adobe and Citrix.
To round out D&H’s new cloud services portfolio, the company recently added a customizable brochure template to its Partner Services resources library entitled “What Is Cloud Computing and What Does It Mean For My Business?” Resellers can use this piece to communicate the benefits and productivity gains associated with a Microsoft Office 365 cloud deployment. The distributor is also hosting a seminar at its March 14 West Coast Technology Trade Show in Industry Hills, CA, entitled “The 5 Challenges When Becoming a Cloudie,” presented by Cloud Nation.
