Arrow and Broadcom drive customer success

Written by: Rob Jacobs, Head of the Broadcom Business Group for Arrow’s enterprise computing solutions business in EMEA

In the digital age, innovation is the driver of future success. That’s always been our customer focus at Arrow, and what we strive for in the market. It’s why ‘Five Years Out’ is our way of thinking about the future and the technologies needed to make that future happen. And that’s why our strategic collaboration with Broadcom Software is a perfect fit for us – it enables us to innovate in the European market for the benefit of all our reseller partners and their customers.

Broadcom have proven that they are a technology disruptor, and have a history of bringing new solutions to market. In many cases, their innovations are shaping the direction of its customers, and form an integral part of their enterprise, security and cloud computing strategies.

Now, in cooperation with Arrow, Broadcom is bringing that vision and innovation to a Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy for the European small-to-medium business (SMB) channel. Under this new selling approach, all businesses not directly managed by Broadcom, are now Arrow’s exclusive responsibility. This new GTM strategy transforms the way resellers can add value and it redefines the role of the distributor. And importantly everyone in the sales chain benefits; from the manufacturer, distributor, reseller and the end-user. So how does it work?

Beyond Distribution

This new business model, known as the ‘Cybersecurity Aggregator program’, significantly transforms the role of Arrow in SMB channel sales, giving us a more pivotal role in defining and driving strategy. Historically the software vendor has been responsible for managing the channel sales business, leaving little room to localise programs or negotiate deals. The Cybersecurity Aggregator program turns that model upside down. Now, Arrow, as the Aggregator, is entirely responsible for defining the channel sales strategy and independently driving the Go-To-Market initiatives for Broadcom’s Symantec products and services in the European SMB space.

This marks a huge departure from the typical vendor-channel relationship and is tremendously exciting for all of us involved in European SMB channel sales. At a stroke, we have moved ‘Beyond Distribution’, and now cover the entire pre & post-sales cycle, servicing SMB customers faster and more efficiently. And, with additional resources and investments, we are helping resellers to run more profitable, predictable operations, with flexibility to develop business.

This new strategy works well. It combines Arrow’s ability to reach the broadest European audience of channel reseller partners, with a new-found flexibility to create our own compelling programs to expand business opportunities for our resellers. And that all adds up to better customer outcomes.

You could say the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

This is how our 1 + 1 = 3 approach works:

Win-Win-Win Value Proposition

Our collaboration with Broadcom brings to life our GTM, ‘Win-Win-Win Value Proposition’ for our channel partners and their end-user customers. Pairing Broadcom’s technology strengths with Arrow’s channel expertise ensures that channel partners and their end-user customers get a whole greater than the sum of its parts. It provides the best security software solutions and services, in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible, through a business model that de-risks investment, while providing unique benefits for all.

More autonomy, faster decision making, greater efficiencies and ultimately the room to grow and accelerate revenue. Service and sales can be much more responsive to customer needs and those who know their customers best can respond at speed, providing even greater value.

Greater Customer Benefits

The customer is front and centre in this new business model. We now have unlimited scope to provide targeted programs and offers, and to help ensure customers can engage more easily with Broadcom’s Symantec security solutions. Our exclusive autonomy over the SMB & unmanaged business allows us to support our resellers faster and more efficiently. This in turn will enable the customer to deploy the best cybersecurity software on the market with the best possible support during their decision-making process and beyond.

The new Cybersecurity Aggregator model benefits resellers and customers in many ways:

Reseller Advantages:

• Easy access to the broadest cybersecurity portfolio
• Faster & more predictable procurement process
• More opportunities and unrivalled rewards to increase profitability
• New tools and services to drive customer value

Customer Advantages:

• Industry-leading, integrated hybrid-capable Symantec portfolio
• Simplicity for users with maximum security
• Flexible pricing programs to accelerate time to value
• Outstanding user experience
• Reduced total cost of ownership

Taken together, these innovations reshape the European SMB channel sales model and create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. And that’s a Win-Win-Win Value proposition for all.