Arrow, independenceIT Partner Up For Desktop-As-A-Service

Global distributor Arrow Electronics will distribute independenceIT's Desktop-as-a-Service offering to help partners capitalize on cloud solutions through its ArrowSphere online marketplace, the companies said Monday.

The move extends Allentown, Pa.-based independenceIT's reach and bolsters Arrow's DaaS offerings through its new ArrowSphere marketplace. John Austin, cloud services practice manager at Arrow, said the partnership with independenceIT comes at a critical time.

"The Desktop-as-a-Service market -- everyone has been predicting this is the year that it really takes off. I'm going to say it again in 2014. This is the year," Austin said. "For the first time we're seeing real opportunity, real discussions, real deals with dollars behind it with Desktop-as-a-Service."

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The ArrowSphere platform was rolled out in Europe in 2012 and was extended into North America in 2013, providing an online marketplace and single point of access for solution providers selling cloud solutions or looking to break into the market for the first time. Austin compared the program to a shopping mall for cloud solutions, with anchor tenants, such as independenceIT, drawing in solution providers to shop.

The program already has more than 100 solution providers on board in North America, with more expected going forward, Austin said.

For independenceIT, the partnership gives it greater reach in North America through an extensive partner base and an already established brand, said independenceIT CTO Chip Buck.

"As Arrow brings [more partners] in, the more providers that are unified, that are specializing in their own elements in the Desktop-as-a-Service world, the more awareness there is and the more the marketplace grows," Buck said.

The addition of independenceIT's DaaS offering demonstrates the growing importance of the DaaS component in a solution provider's cloud portfolio, Austin said.

"When I look at our reseller community ... [Desktop-as-a-Service and cloud] is a fast-moving space. They need to get here. I think within the past four to six months is when the light bulb has started to come on and they're starting to see the value of their business as a traditional hardware reseller is diminishing and they need to do something to complement [that business]," Austin said.

Desktop-as-a-Service opens up an opportunity for solution providers to create new lines of business and set them up for success in a changing end-user environment, Austin said.

PUBLISHED FEB. 3, 2014