Insights from the Channel: Arrow Intelligent Solutions

[MattQuirk]

For almost 90 years, Arrow has been a leader in helping organizations bring technology to market. Since its humble beginnings on New York’s Radio Row in 1935, the company has expanded its distribution and integration footprint worldwide. We caught up with Brad Svoboda, Arrow’s director of supplier management for North America, to learn about the company’s value-add services, how AI impacts what its customers want, and what makes its relationship with HPE OEM Solutions strong.

Hi Brad, how are you? Tell us about some of the most significant value-add services and solutions Arrow’s Intelligent Solutions business offers its OEM customers.

Hi, I’m happy to be here. These are two main areas where Arrow’s Intelligent Solutions business brings value to our OEM customers in the integration space.

1)  Benefit from Arrow’s diversity of services
At Arrow, we are experts in integrating technology and hardware and can also help OEMs with staging and configuring software and technology. We can also test and ship the final solution based on each customer’s request.

2)  Outsource your hardware component with confidence
Using verified HPE platforms and technologies, Arrow can build hardware solutions for software companies that don’t have expertise in this area, helping customers to save time and resources.

Can you give us an example of a global value-add service Arrow is proud of?

For the end users of our customers’ solutions, we can include our value-added services in an HPE product and ship that globally while maintaining consistency. We can do the same kind of build, whether in Phoenix, Budapest, or any of our other locations, all while complying with the local regulatory requirements, standards, and certifications in each country and region. Our customers love that they can buy one HPE server platform and have us integrate it in 20 different configurations.

How has the demand for AI impacted what Arrow’s OEM customers are asking for?

 Adoption of AI in the enterprise space is predicated upon the reliability of that given AI model. An enterprise organization bears the burden of proof that any new technology, product, or process must be proven to benefit the enterprise and its various stakeholders. HPE does a great job of understanding these needs and folding them into their vision.

With any new tech, especially AI, we must anticipate that customers expect a safe harbor to deploy the technology. Antonio spoke about this in his Discover keynote, where he mentioned that in 2019, Hewlett Packard Labs established five fundamental AI principles.

1. Privacy
2. Human focus
3. Inclusive
4. Responsible, and
5. Quality Tested.

Arrow shares the same responsibility as a trusted advisor, guiding our OEM customers into proven, reliable technologies and helping ensure the technologies we endorse follow these principles.

Can you share a recent industry use case in the OEM business that you found particularly interesting?

 One example is when a media asset company needed to address its global demand for customized HPE servers, it knew it could count on HPE product- and process-related expertise from Arrow, as well as its positive relationships with the HPE team.

Arrow’s intuitive sense of urgency, coupled with its ability to pivot and respond quickly on a global basis, was crucial to helping the company deliver fully integrated HPE server components. The company was able to meet service-level agreements (SLAs) both directly and through a network of global resellers. Arrow serves OEMs and ISVs globally, at scale, and across industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, retail, security, and more. 

How do OEMs benefit from working with Arrow and HPE OEM Solutions when bringing their innovations to market?

Collaboratively, HPE and Arrow can cover every phase of your solution lifecycle globally. HPE supplies the technical expertise and advanced hardware and software products. Arrow supports OEM customers across industries from any location, helping them navigate the global supply chain and expand internationally.

Speed to market is the key to success in a competitive landscape. HPE and Arrow can help ensure OEMs capitalize on new market opportunities, adapt to changing customer demands, and accelerate solution delivery.