Comstor, the Cisco-only focused business unit of distributor Westcon Group, today has announced the addition of Cisco’s TelePresence videoconferencing portfolio to its line card.
Westcon, the networking and communications specialty distributor, began selling Cisco (CSCO) solutions in January 2008 and launched its Cisco business in Canada under the Comstor name in September 2009.
Bill Corbin, formerly head of Comstor Worldwide and now executive vice-president of global vendor relationships for Westcon, said the distributor moved Corbin into his current role 10 months ago so he could engage more with global vendor partners.
“Cisco is one of our number one partners,” he said. “I’m not Comstor specific anymore because now I’m in more of a group function where I develop relationships with other vendors that are complementary to our Cisco business.”
With the addition of Cisco’s TelePresence and videoconferencing products, which Cisco acquired from Tandberg last year, Corbin said partners now have the ability to round out their portfolio to addresses the needs of businesses who seek entry-level to high-end video collaboration solutions.
“Partners have the ability to go to a commercial account, sell desktop video, TelePresence and collaboration tools and integrate them into a seamless video offering for the end-user, Corbin said. “For us, it presents an opportunity to help (partners) get certified and trained to explore new opportunities and adjacencies.”
Corbin said one of the key messages he’d like partners to understand is that video is here and now and not something to wait for.
“TelePresence is something that needs to be adopted now so (partners) can establish themselves in the market with their customers,” he said.
“Partners who embrace video will lead in the market place and be more profitable.”
Comstor will distribute Cisco’s entire line of its TelePresence and videoconferencing solutions. With TelePresence, meeting participants can have a live, face-to-face collaboration experience, share content and create video recordings.
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