Synnex Rebrands CloudSolv As Stellr, Adds Workplace By Facebook
‘We all talk about going digital, but still focus on the cloud,’ says Synnex’s Rob Moyer, senior vice president of cloud services, mobility and Internet of Things. ‘We felt our platform has to reflect what's going on in the market.’
Synnex has rebranded its CloudSolv marketplace as Stellr and rolled its MobilitySolv program into Stellr in a move the distributor said better reflects how channel partners and their customers take advantage of the cloud.
Synnex also unveiled what it called the first distribution agreement to bring Workplace by Facebook to the IT channel.
The two moves were unveiled at the distributor's Synnex Catalyst conference, held this week in Los Angeles.
The rebranding of CloudSolv and MobilitySolv to Stellr is related to the evolution of the distribution business, said Rob Moyer, senior vice president of cloud services, mobility and Internet of Things for the Fremont, Calif.-based distributor.
"Distributors are connecting the edge, IoT and more with the cloud," Moyer told CRN. "'Cloud' is not necessarily the best way to describe the business."
A big theme of the Synnex Catalyst conference is "born digital," Moyer said.
"We all talk about going digital, but still focus on the cloud," he said. "We felt our platform has to reflect what's going on in the market. We want people to think ‘digital’ first."
The Stellr program and community will continue to focus on existing CloudSolv offerings such as Microsoft Office 365 and Google G Suite, Moyer said.
"But we'll also put a lot of focus on IoT and mobility," he said. "This doesn't discount our efforts in hybrid cloud. Our market and our channel are used to seeing cloud marketplaces, but our focus will be more on solutions going forward."
Other "Solv" programs remain unchanged, Moyer said. These include Synnex's networking-focused ConvergeSolv, its public sector-focused GovSolv, and its display and signage-focused VisualSolv.
"We just felt CloudSolv pigeonholed us," he said.
Synnex's CloudSolv partner community is also getting a new name: Stellr Connect. Moyer said the goal is to bring different types of partners to the community as a way to better serve all partners.
These include cloud service providers, managed service providers, mobility partners, and hybrid partners who focus on digital services, Moyer said.
"When we built the CloudSolv community, we saw a lot of different types of partners including those with cloud and mobility practices," he said. "Now we want to make this a modern distribution community and reflect how partners are changing their businesses. Our job is to help partners in their move to digital transformation."
The Stellr rebranding goes into effect immediately. The first change partners will see is a new interface for the Synnex cloud portal, with an updated website for accessing a new virtual learning and other changes slated to roll out over the next year, Moyer said.
Workplace by Facebook, meanwhile, is slated to be available starting May 20 and will be part of the Stellr cloud community.
"It's the first commercial availability in the channel of Workplace by Facebook," he said.
Workplace is a communications hub that connects everyone in an organization via several collaboration and business tools. Included in Workplace are the ability to form groups, do searches, set up profiles, and access tools like Workplace Chat, News Feed, auto-translation and Live Video. Workplace is aimed at collaboration and teamwork in businesses and is in use by over 2 million paying customers.