Avnet brings on Eaton power

Power management vendor, Eaton, has signed Avnet to help build its datacentre management and enterprise profile locally.

Avnet will supply Eaton’s BladeUPS technology, enclosures, power distribution units, environmental rack monitoring, VoIP and Power over Ethernet Midspan solutions, software and connectivity offerings. All are branded under Power Quality. It will also sell Eaton’s mid-range and enterprise UPS products acquired through Powerware and MGE Office Protection Systems.

Eaton will provide dedicated pre-sales account managers as well as assist with post-sales engineering and technical support.

The distributor’s general manager, Gavin Lawless, said Eaton complemented its enterprise technology portfolio and expanded its solution capabilities. Eaton is Avnet’s first direct power management relationship.

“We offer solutions and we’re always looking for vendors that complement those things we’re trying to bring to market,” he said. “With a vendor like Eaton, which has a niche but solid offering around power management, it’s natural step and add on for us.” Avnet has committed to getting staff educated as well as bringing on new partners and growing revenue, Lawless said.

The deal comes six months after Eaton appointed Synnex to distribute products from the MGE Protection Systems range.

Eaton national channel manager, Darren Butterworth, said Avnet sat well alongside Synnex and its other IT logistics partner, Bluechip Infotech.

He cited Avnet’s datacentre expertise, enterprise reseller base and solutions-oriented model as key factors behind the deal.

“When we were looking at partnering with Avnet, we looked at their customer base versus the sell-through of our logistics distributors and there was no crossover,” he said. “Avnet helps us to move towards that [enterprise] area of the market and reseller community.”

Eaton is also putting the finishing touches on its new partner program, Power Advantage.

Butterworth said partners who registered and completed certification training would be given an upfront discount and the ability to register opportunities and access sales leads.

Partners on-board for over six months who have more than 20 per cent of revenue coming from Eaton products will then be given additional margin.

“This program will suit the types of resellers, VARs and integrators Avnet works with and who are used to programs from the likes of HP or IBM,” Butterworth said. Power Advantage should be launched over the next month.

“The good thing is Eaton is bring a lot of new structure and strategy around the channel, so the next year or two should be very lucrative,” Lawless said.

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