Tech Data CIO To Oversee Cloud Business, Expands TDCloud Portfolio

Tech Data CIO John Tonnison has taken an expanded role at the $27.7 billion distributor, as he is now overseeing the company's cloud business. He said the move illustrates the importance of the cloud segment of the company.

"It's very clearly a very stark signal to our own business, to our own people that this is something different," Tonnison told CRN. "We expect different attention. We expect open-minded, transformative thinking and pace by taking it to this level. The CEO [Bob Dutkowsky] has very clearly signaled to the whole company that this is something new and different to absolutely be in the game ... It's not accidental. I think it's absolutely the right thing to do, because it is a different way of doing business."

Tech Data said that as of the first quarter of FY16, it remains on pace to exceed $200 million in annualized cloud revenue. Tonnison noted that because this is a booming market, the distributor is focused on expanding its business as it looks to continue to broaden its portfolio of product offerings.

[Related: Deadline Day: Microsoft Partners Brace For Windows Server 2003 Security Fiasco]

Tonnison kicked off his newly expanded role at Microsoft's 2015 Worldwide Partner Conference being held this week in Orlando, Fla., by announcing a large expansion to the TDCloud portfolio with a slew of cloud offerings and partnerships. These were headlined by an expansion to its StreamOne platform, which will be available to resellers later this year.

The Clearwater, Fla.-based distributor also said, among other partnership announcements, that TDCloud will now offer Microsoft Office 365 services to solution providers in the U.S. through its partnership with Seattle-based cloud management company, SkyKick.

"We're very clear that our position is to bring bundled and connected cloud offerings and appropriate services together in packages for the resellers to be able to take to the market," Tonnison told CRN. "We're bringing on a number of migration and transformation tools … We're technically in the right place. Our line card is growing. It's time for us to really take a strong market position, and really start helping our resellers understand how they can build and manage their hybrid businesses."

Stephen Monteros, vice president of business development and strategic initiatives at SIGMAnet, an Ontario, Calif.-based solution provider and 20-year Tech Data partner, said that by Tech Data having its CIO take the helm of the cloud business, it garners attention from both partners and the competition. He said in an ever-growing cloud market, there is not yet a defined leader, and Tech Data is doing its best to beat Ingram Micro to that spot.

"It went all the way to the C-level, so it has that type of visibility," he said. "I think for Tech Data, looking at them doing this, it's them getting more visibility at this level. [The market] is still in the semi-infancy stages with [cloud]. It's growing. It's more of a discussion with customers than it was even last year. You can see how important it is to Tech Data. Everybody has a stake in this, because the way it's going, cloud is going to be important. Having [Tonnison] handle this illustrates that point. They're trying to find their way. Both Ingram and Tech Data know they'll play. It's just a matter of who will define their strategy first and take the lead."

Tonnison said that TDCloud's portfolio will not come in with a weighted approach because they are looking to expand and continue to offer a broad range of cloud services to its channel partners. He noted that "for real relevance and impact, and frankly even credibility" from resellers, it's important that its cloud line card of offerings is a blended mix across the board.

"I look around our peer group and I see all of our business take cloud very seriously," Tonnison told CRN. "We've got a mature line card. We've got a platform capability and a global organization, and this announcement is our indication that we're absolutely ready to be investing, representing and focusing on this at our top level ...The market is transforming, our reseller partners are looking for help, and we're going to be there."

Tech Data also revealed at the Microsoft partner conference this morning that through an agreement with Boca Raton, Fla.-based MSP MessageOps, TDCloud has added a cloud adoption tool called Office 365 Adoption to its portfolio that's available to solution providers.

In addition, Tech Data has added CRM cloud solutions that integrate Office 365 and Outlook 2013 into its portfolio through an agreement with San Francisco-based cloud software developer, Insightly.

Also at the event, Tech Data announced an agreement with Charlotte, N.C.-based cloud software startup, CloudGenera, where it will offer its solutions suite focused on accelerating cloud migration.

Lastly, the distributor said its global partnership with Kirkland, Wash.-based cloud enablement provider, BitTitan, will be extended to Europe as it has been available in North America and Latin America since 2013.

PUBLISHED JULY 14, 2015