Pivot3 Signs With Arrow To Bring Its Hyper-Converged Infrastructure To Partners

Hyper-converged infrastructure technology provider Pivot3 has signed a distribution agreement with Arrow to bring its technology to channel partners. The appliances distributed as part of the deal will either be branded as Pivot3 or Lenovo.

Pivot3 develops hyper-converged infrastructure software based on its Acuity platform, the latest version of which provides priority-aware and policy-based capabilities with NVMe PCIe flash performance. The company also offers a version for video surveillance based on its vSTAC operating system.

The Pivot3 hyper-converged appliances are available configured with either Dell or Lenovo server hardware, depending on the preference of the customer, said Mark Maisano, vice president of global channels for the Austin, Texas-based company.

[Related: The 11 Coolest Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Products Of 2017 (So Far)]

Pivot3 has been distributing its Pivot3-branded appliances via Ingram Micro's Promark business with the Dell or Lenovo servers, Maisano told CRN.

Now, channel partners will also be able to purchase the appliances via Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions, he said. Partners looking for a Lenovo-branded version, however, can go through Arrow Intelligent Systems, the integration arm of Arrow.

"Arrow brings configuration capabilities and integration capabilities that are unmatched," he said. "They drive a complete solution."

Pivot3's new Arrow relationship will probably help streamline the purchasing process, said Dave Clipp, principal at Atom Creek, a Centennial, Colo.-based solution provider and channel partner to both Pivot3 and Lenovo.

Atom Creek had been purchasing the Lenovo hardware-based Pivot3 appliances from other sources, but the purchasing process was "cloudy," Clipp told CRN.

"With the new program, we know Arrow will take the Lenovo hardware and do the integration," he said. "We don't have to worry about how the sausage is made."

The Pivot3 hyper-converged infrastructure works well, but doesn't have the brand recognition of some of its peers making it important to work with a vendor like Lenovo and a distributor like Arrow, said Eric Collins, chief technology officer at PCPC Direct, a Houston-based solution provider and channel partner to Pivot3 and Lenovo.

"Pivot3 scales to up to 30 to 60 nodes easily," Collins told CRN. "In that range, you can put a lot of work on it. You put four nodes on the rack, run a script, and it's ready. We just have to give customers about four hours of training."

Arrow will make it easier to bring the Lenovo-branded version to the channel, Collins said.

"With Lenovo, we get a Tier 1 manufacturer's warranty and service," he said. "All the comforts of the kind of blanket only a top vendor can provide – and Arrow gives us the value-added services of a top-notch distributor, including financing and marketing dollars."