Kathy Gibson reports from Pinnacle TechScape, Durban – The South African IT market is a dynamic and constantly-changing environment – and distributors have to be agile to ensure they stay relevant.
A case in point is how Pinnacle Enterprise has grown over the last few years as partners steadily shift from traditional components and devices to offering their customers end-to-end IT solutions .
In 2017, enterprise technology accounted for just 5% of Pinnacle’s business. Today, it is closing in on 30% – and is expected to be as much as 40% within just a few years.
Fred Saayman, brand director of Pinnacle Enterprise, tells delegates to Pinnacle TechScape that the enterprise business is AI-ready and has forged key partnerships with vendors to enable partners on their AI journeys.
To this end, Pinnacle Enterprise offers a full ecosystem that offers partners public cloud, hybrid cloud, and Pinnacle private cloud: Pinnacle Cyber Security – safety and security; Pinnacle Networking – software-defined storage; and Pinnacle Infrastructure in the form of servers, storage, and enterprise software.
“All of this enables us to provides a turnkey solution – and an ecosystem that prepares the customer for their AI journey,” says Saayman.
Product offerings in the enterprise business include the following:
Storage: Nutanix, XFusion, Huawei, Infinidat, Dell Technologies, SuperMicro, Spectra and Seagate.
Compute: Nvidia, SuperMicro, Dell Technologies, Nutanix, Huawei and XFusion.
Networking: D-Link, Dell Technologies Ruckus, Huawei, Alcatel Lucent, Nvidia and TP-Link.
Software: Commvault, Inuvika, Stratodesk, Metallic, Microsoft, Hycu, Acronis, Open-E, Nutanix and Alcatel Lucent
Cybersecurity: Guardicore, Panorays, Xcitium and Acronis. Saayman adds that some additional vendors will be added to the cybersecurity lineup in the near future.
Infrastructure: Commscope Netconnect, Commscope Systimax, Corning, Dell Technologies, Fluke Networking, Eaton, Fujikura, Proline, and Zone.
Saayman adds that the distributor is constantly investing in resources such as a dedicated enterprise post-sales team, additional pre-sales staff, and end user-focused business development managers.
“We are also upgrading our experience centres into a centre of excellence and revamping our authorised training centre,” he says.
To help partners provide the best possible service, Pinnacle is also skilling up on enterprise trainers for both pre-sales and product managers; and collaborating with data scientists to provide AI as a service.
“Our overall strategic objectives are to grow the enterprise share of wallet as we break into new markets with AI, automation, and security solutions,” Saayman says. “We are expanding our cloud offering with enterprise as a service and ensuring partner enablement.”
The investment already made in skilled salespeople means Pinnacle can add value In technical expertise and business specifications. “Our people can offer cross-platform solutions skills, datacentre solution design, and consulting and architecture design,” he says.
The distributor’s broad portfolio and deep skills set means it can provide turnkey solutions on behalf of partners. Importantly, it can also offer to do proof of concept projects with vendors which lets partners demonstrate how a solution would operate in a customer’s environment.
And Pinnacle can even help partners with public sector onboarding
“Overall, our services include rack and stack, installation and implementation, commission, migration, maintenance and support,” Saayman concludes. “We extend an opportunity for partners to grow with the enterprise team as we support and enhance their business.”