Amid Tech Data's $2.6 billion buyout of Avnet Technology Solution (ATS), one area of potential overlap involves cloud services and associated solutions. The areas to note: Tech Data StreamOne and Avnet Cloud Marketplace, each of which are designed to empower VARs and MSPs with third-party cloud services.
Updated Sept. 20, 2:00 p.m. ET: Tech Data confirms Avnet Cloud Marketplace is part of buyout.
To the best of my knowledge:
- Tech Data developed StreamOne in-house. StreamOne is a suite of cloud marketplace and integration technologies, which power the company’s Cloud Solutions Store and provide partners with white label and integration capabilities for their own cloud businesses. StreamOne's annual revenue run rate is about $300 million, as of about August 2016.
- On the flip-side, I believe Avnet Cloud Marketplace has plenty of customizations but leverages a third-party cloud commerce system -- perhaps the Orbitera system that Google recently acquired (though I haven't confirmed that).
Generally speaking, Avnet Cloud Marketplace and Tech Data StreamOne compete with one another -- while also competing against Ingram Micro Cloud and Synnex CloudSolv, among other distributor cloud services.
Tech Data: Combing Clouds?
The big question: Did Tech Data acquire Avnet Cloud Marketplace as part of the ATS buyout announced on Monday, Sept. 19? I believe the answer is yes (updated: the answer is yes) -- but that's just a strong hunch based on Avnet's overall cloud history. The official Tech Data-ATS deal announcement didn't mention the cloud service, to the best of my knowledge.
Either way, Avnet and Tech Data will need to clearly communicate what the future holds for each cloud platform -- whether they'll wind up under a single roof; merge into a single system; or continue to be owned independently of each other.
Some answers may need to wait until Tech Data finalizes the ATS buyout sometime in the first half of 2017.
