D&H Introduces Its New 'Solutions Lab,' Providing Granular, Hands-On, Live SMB Server Instruction

Throughout its 2010 Trade Show Schedule, D&H Distributing offered a hugely popular series of invitation-only SMB Server Workshops where resellers watched an expert build a system right in their presence. Feedback from these events was so overwhelmingly positive that D&H's Server Specialist team has devised a way to offer more in-depth, live system building sessions. The distributor is therefore excited to announce the launch of the new D&H Solutions Lab.

The Solutions Lab is an environment at the company's Harrisburg headquarters that can accommodate up to 36 attendees, in addition to allowing access via live streaming video for as many other resellers as would like to attend, depending on the event. VARs will observe as a seasoned D&H technician conducts an intricate, step-by-step tutorial of how to build a specific SMB server solution in front of their eyes. In many circumstances, reseller partners will be able to participate during a session by purchasing identical products and constructing/configuring them in tandem with the D&H technician. Seminars will also focus on sales strategies to help VARs sell these systems. Reseller attendees can ask questions live or virtually during events, about both the system and the sales process.

Instruction will include extreme close-up photography that is so detailed, the camera can show a view from inside the system chassis itself. These images will be projected onto a screen in the Lab and streamed via the Internet, so attendees can follow along with the smallest particulars.

The Lab will be used for various trainings, including its first reseller-based hands-on event with Cisco, scheduled for February 22, where participants will learn the particulars associated with a UC500 deployment. The UC500 is part of Cisco's Smart Business Communication System (SBCS) solutions, providing VoIP and unified communications to SMB office environments.

This event is the first vendor-sponsored presentation to take place in the newly-launched Lab facility. During the session, attendees in groups of two will use individual UC540W "pods" to assemble a complete SBCS solution. The presentation will also include discussion regarding the SBCS small business customer and how to market these solutions. After the training, VARs can use the configured system for demonstration purposes in the future.

Buy A System, Watch Us Build It
The Solutions Lab is more than just a facility. D&H will offer resellers a specific list of components necessary for a certain solution, complete with a BOM list (bill of materials) similar to the "recipes" offered through D&H's "System Build Challenge" program. Resellers who purchase the bundle will then be able to attend or stream a live Solutions Lab event in which D&H's Server Specialists walk those customers through the build for that specific system.

The first D&H Solutions Lab reseller training event is planned for the latter half of Q1. D&H plans to offer sessions several times per year, with hopes of eventually presenting at least one Solutions Lab event per quarter. The systems will feature products from industry leaders such as Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, HP and new D&H partner gloStream, and will focus on vertical markets and specific solutions.

"The point of the Lab is to offer broad-scale technical and business trainings in a live setting. We provide a blow-by-blow account of how to assemble a solution, with no assumptions about the reseller's knowledge of that build, plus strategies for how to sell these systems in specific markets," said Jeff Davis, senior vice president of purchasing at D&H.

"Many channel partners tend to assume that VARs just know how to go about every aspect of the process. They sometimes gloss-over small details that turn out to be crucial," added Davis. "Our customers are looking for that hands-on, step-by-step partner who will take them from the beginning to the end of the build with no gaps. And in the Lab sessions, we provide the tools to learn how to market the solution, as well as to deploy it."

On February 17, D&H will conduct a dedicated training program at the Lab for its internal sales personnel, to familiarize them with the sales strategies and technical aspects of D&H's System Build Challenge program. The System Build Challenge gives resellers guidance on how to sell and build systems for different SMB environments, offering component recipes appropriate for a range of custom scenarios, from healthcare offices to cloud networks to home entertainment systems. The Solutions Lab and the System Build Challenge are both part of the distributor's increased focus on SMB server and system builder solutions for 2011.

"D&H has put considerable resources and expertise behind this concept of one-on-one instruction, because that's what our customers are asking for," said Davis. "It's what made our previous Server Workshops so well-received. But more importantly, it helps our resellers get out there and successfully sell these solutions as an authoritative IT advisor."

About D&H Distributing
As the nation's leading technology distributor, D&H provides a wealth of resources to empower solution providers and consultants, delivering a broad selection of SMB categories, products and applications. The company's offerings span server and infrastructure, SOHO and mobile applications, consumer electronics and gaming. D&H's multi-market expertise, account-dedicated sales teams, sterling service and flexible financing options are unmatched in the industry.

With an impressive 93-year history serving as a trusted advisor to the reseller channel, D&H has been able to consistently reinvent itself based upon changing market conditions. The company prides itself on creating business partnerships with an astute focus on ease-of-doing-business, relationships, value, performance and service.

D&H was named Cisco's Global Distribution Partner of the Year, won the Microsoft Licensing Operational Excellence Award seven years running and was named Microsoft's OEM Distributor of the Year. The company ships out of five separate locations in North America, including its US headquarters in Harrisburg and its Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario. For more information, visit www.dandh.com.

SOURCE: D&H Distributing