D&H Launches Professional Service Business

December 10, 2020

Distributor to build on initiative in first half of next year

By Jeffrey Burt

D&H Distributing is establishing a professional service business that kicked off late this year and will continue to be phased in throughout the first half of 2021.

The Lowdown: The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based tech distributor in August hired Tiffany Ward as director of professional services and later in the year invested in its white glove and integration offering.

The Details: The professional service business, announced this week, will fall under D&H’s Cloud and Services Business Unit, which is led by Vice President Jason Bystrak. D&H will formalize and build on some existing services, as well as launch new ones. The professional service offerings will include:

> White Glove and Integration Services: The goal is to create turnkey solutions that can be paid for through a monthly license. The distributor is ramping up this existing area with more device enrollment, asset tagging, on-site assessments, and laser etching of hardware. It will include help desk services and a combination of hardware and software from OEMs such as Lenovo and HP bundled with software and security services. MSPs can resell the services under a white-label model.
> Managed Services: The formalized service will enable VARs and MSPs to attach targeted services to devices and infrastructure. It will include services such as device management and security, infrastructure management and security, and help desk services. In addition, partners can customize the managed services and deliver them under their own brand and lean on D&H experts for assistance. It will launch in the spring.
> Project Services: D&H is expanding its project service offerings to supplement its strategic initiatives in such areas as professional audio and visual, e-sports, cloud, data center and network infrastructure, and security. New offerings will be added to the existing project services, including assessments, migrations, and on-site installation services. VARs and MSPs will be able to add their own capabilities and sell the services under the own brand.

The Impact: These services dovetail with existing programs from D&H, including its Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) and Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) offerings, through which partners can offer end clients bundles of hardware, solutions, and services aimed at vertical markets and financed through monthly payments.

Background: The announcement about professional services comes the same day the distributor said it saw VAR growth of almost 25% since May, driven in part by the sharp increase in demand for technologies like laptops, webcams, and displays as the COVID-19 pandemic set in and many organizations shifted to a work-from-home model. The company also saw a 14% increase in sales between May and November.

The Buzz: “D&H realized that its partners could achieve terrific margins if they could bundle services with every hardware sale, not only increasing revenue for those partners, but enhancing their ability to win business by bringing a total solution to the table,” Ward said. “We’re working to create a more robust, high-value service portfolio for channel partners, making D&H a single-source destination to fulfill the business needs of their end-customers.”