SAN JOSE, Calif. and TEMPE, Ariz. - Jun 26, 2012 : Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), the global leader in open standards-based unified communications (UC), and Avnet Technology Solutions, the global IT solutions distribution leader and an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), today announced a distribution agreement for the U.S. and Canada. Under this agreement, Avnet will provide value-added reseller (VAR) partners with a comprehensive selection of Polycom® RealPresence® video and voice solutions. Avnet will help partners accelerate the growth of their UC businesses by enabling them to target high-growth vertical markets where these solutions are in demand, such as energy, finance, government, healthcare and retail.

 

With this new agreement, Avnet partners will be able to leverage Polycom's offerings across vertical markets to help their customers reduce costs; increase collaboration; improve operational efficiency and productivity; educate and train employees; and enhance security for video collaboration. Partners can deliver these solutions in a variety of ways to align with their customers' needs, including on-premise, hosted and cloud deployments.

 

"Polycom complements Avnet's solutions-focused market approach and enhances our capabilities in the unified communications and video collaboration market," said Gavin Miller, vice president of marketing, solutions and sales acceleration, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. "Avnet's partners can combine Polycom's open standards-based solutions with offerings from other industry-leading manufacturers in our portfolio, such as HP, IBM and Microsoft, to develop complete unified communications solutions. We will work closely with our partners to identify collaborative business-building opportunities that span multiple manufacturers' lines and address the communications infrastructure needs of specific high-growth vertical markets, helping partners to deliver solutions throughout their customers' enterprises."

 

Avnet will help partners develop specialized solutions capabilities in high-growth markets through its SolutionsPath® vertical practices focused on the energy, finance, government, healthcare and retail markets. Avnet can also help partners increase their data center expertise in technology specialization areas related to cloud computing, mobility, networking, security, storage, and virtualization.

 

"We're delighted to establish an alliance with Avnet," said Ron Myers, senior vice president, Global Channels at Polycom. "Together, we're delivering UC solutions that power richer conversations and higher productivity by transforming the way business is conducted."

 

"Unified communications is a rapidly growing practice for us and key to how we currently engage with customers," said Tony Balistrieri, vice president, marketing and partner strategy at FusionStorm, an information technology delivery company and Avnet partner. "We are enthusiastic about this new relationship between industry leaders Avnet and Polycom because it will enable us to provide our customers with powerful solutions that can have a significant impact on their operational performance and productivity."