About 54 percent of Sun's U.S. revenue goes through distribution, up from about 42 percent three years ago. The number is expected to increase as Tech Data's solution providers ramp up Sun practices, Grimes said.
Tech Data has signed just fewer than 150 solution providers to sell Sun servers since Sun authorized the distributor last year. About 110 solution providers are in the registered volume reseller category and another 35 are in the authorized volume reseller category, which provides the same iForce partner benefits that Sun's traditional enterprise solution providers receive.
"We're looking to add another 50 [solution providers] total by the end of the second calendar quarter. We're excited about the recruiting and our prospects, but now it's all about execution," Grimes said. "We're building out support infrastructure so you know where to go in the field, in our sales organization, to go to market effectively."
Joe Serra, now vice president of high-end networking and storage product management at Tech Data, participated in the discussions last year when Tech Data was authorized to sell Sun servers, and said that Tech Data's solution providers are excited about the possibility of selling up to four-way Sun servers.
"They want that upward mobility. Absolutely, it makes sense for Tech Data to have four-way. Our customers aren't asking for eight-way. They want four-way because it's a great value proposition," Serra said.
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