GTDC: Distribution key to expanding vendor reach

Each time a technology or trend emerged that threatened distribution, the naysayers declared that tier of the channel faced an existential crisis – however, each time the channel evolved and emerged stronger.

That sense of ongoing transformation is at the heart of the latest research issued by the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC), which has taken a closer look at how cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and the hyperscalers have affected its members.

The organisation’s Distribution: The digital force multiplier report, developed by CommCentric, underlined the efforts made by disties to develop their own cloud platforms and react to AI to ensure they remained a source of products and expertise for the reseller and MSP communities.

The GTDC has consistently argued that distributors hold a pivotal role in the channel ecosystem, sitting between vendors and partners, able to provide enablement, products and guidance across the channel.

The report added more evidence to shore up that position, revealing that most vendor executives (80%) viewed growing their partner ecosystems as a priority and viewed distribution as the main route to achieve that goal. More than half understood the sales enablement that was delivered by distribution partners and valued the efforts being made to provide partner education to increase the adoption of AI and cloud solutions.

Distribution has also developed its own digital platforms, with 86% of suppliers either using at least one today or looking at ways to increase support of online transactions, lifecycle management and analytics.

Finally, the relationships between the channel and hyperscalers was also a story of evolution, with 60% of vendors working directly with the cloud giants, and the remainder operating a hybrid model that involved distributors. The GTDC argued that disties provided a bridge between the two worlds and that their importance would continue to trise.

“Today’s distributors have advanced far beyond the critical logistics and credit services mission,” said Frank Vitagliano, CEO of GTDC. “Distribution is now a major force multiplier – helping cloud and AI and hyperscaler-focused suppliers reduce risk, scale faster, enter new markets and orchestrate increasingly complex digital ecosystems.

“Those services are layered on top of all the time-tested valued services that vendors have come to expect from their trusted distributor partners.”

The report also covered the role distributors play in reducing risk and helping to onboard partners to aid vendors with channel growth ambitions. With complexity continuing to increase with cloud, AI and everything as a service (XaaS), the role of distribution – sitting at the apex of those developments – is seen as critical for vendors looking for growth.

Quotes included in the report shared the efforts made by distribution to keep ahead of evolving market demands.

“The market is moving toward an XaaS model, where hardware, SaaS and IaaS are bundled into a single outcome-based solution rather than sold as single line items,” said Francisco Criado, senior vice-president of cloud, security and AI for TD Synnex.

“We’re digitising the entire quote-to-cash journey, eliminating swivel-chair processes and reducing friction from initial interest to recurring revenue. It’s about providing high-value support and ease-of-business.”

Speaking about its full-year results earlier this week, Paul Bay, CEO of Ingram Micro, pointed to its Xvantage platform and spoke of the progress made with its digital offering.

“During 2025, we delivered billions of dollars of revenue through the Xvantage platform as we meaningfully scaled critical enablement capabilities for our customers, and increased the consistency and predictability of revenue and operating income,” said Bay.