CHANNEL MANAGEMENT 74 CHANNELV ISION | MARCH - APRIL 2023 35-year-old reseller transitions to integrator By Bruce Christian A New Insight Thirty-five years ago, brothers Tim and Eric Crown were working on a business plan assignment. Using a credit card advance, the Crowns established Hard Drives International. Three years later, they changed the company’s name to Insight Enterprises. The company grew and built a reputation for helping companies with its trademarked Intelligent Technology Solutions and services intended to maximize the business value of information technology. As a technology value added reseller (VAR), it expanded globally and became one of the largest VARs in the industry. But this is a company that doesn’t stand still. It continues to evolve, and during the last year Insight Enterprises has made the transition from VAR into becoming a solutions integrator. As a solutions integrator, Insight Enterprises delivers and supports modern IT solutions, offering end-toend digital transformation capabilities. Working with a solutions integrator helps companies to make the transition of disjointed software and hardware into a cohesive technology ecosystem by leveraging a diverse services and solutions portfolio that includes hardware, software and consulting engagements. In most cases, solutions integrators work as a service provider and an advisor to ensure a project is delivered successfully from ideation to execution. The advisory work can extend beyond implementation to ongoing support, management and optimization. “The VAR business was entirely new to me coming in,” said president of Insight North America Dee Burger, who joined the company last May. “I mean, I was aware of it certainly.” But in his more than 30 years in the industry, Burger said he only knew of VARs in what he called a “thin” way.
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