MLOps Provider Domino Data Lab Strikes Distribution Deal With TD Synnex

Domino is also unveiling new partner training and accreditation programs as it looks to channel partners to take the lead in consulting, implementation and support services for customers.

Thomas Robinson, Domino Data Labs COO

Domino Data Lab is partnering with tech distributor and solutions aggregator TD Synnex to bring the company’s MLOps machine learning platform to a wider audience of channel partners and potential customers, the companies said Tuesday.

The company, as part of its partner-first services model, is also expanding its partner program with new partner training and accreditation resources, according to an announcement the company is making later this week and provided to CRN in advance.

Domino Data Lab also continues its extensive efforts to integrate its platform with leading system and cloud platforms: This week the company is announcing that the Domino platform is available through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace.

[Related: Domino Data Lab Allied With TCS, Nvidia To Develop Advanced Computing Managed Service ]

Domino Data Lab, based in San Francisco, integrates its machine learning software with a wide range of hardware and software systems. In September the company unveiled integrations between its platform, Nvidia GPUs and NetApp’s data management and storage solutions in a move to enable MLOps across hybrid environments. And in December the company validated its system to work with the Nvidia AI Enterprise solution on Dell Technologies servers.

The company also works closely with data cloud provider Snowflake and in November began working with data science software company Anaconda to provide integrated AI/ML support for Python and R developers.

Many leading system vendors work through distributors like TD Synnex. And many solution providers and the SMB customers they service are looking for the kind of turnkey AI/machine learning solutions that TD Synnex assembles for its channel partners, noted Thomas Robinson, Domino Data Labs chief operating officer, in an interview with CRN.

Through the new partnership Domino’s enterprise MLOps platform is now available through the TD Synnex distribution and aggregation services.

“What this [TD Synnex alliance] allows us to do is streamline to a large degree how a customer can procure Domino with the underlying hardware in a very simple way,” Robinson (pictured) said. “TD Synnex has a massive reach and wants to be providing the leading machine learning and data science software as that sector continues to grow. It‘s a win-win for them in providing Domino and a win-win for us in getting wider reach to a large set of customers.”

Domino Data Lab’s goal with the TD Synnex deal is to “democratize” access to AI and ML, both in terms of making the company’s MLOps platform available to a wider audience of businesses and organizations who look to the channel for guidance, and in making it easier for organizations with AI and ML professionals to obtain the AI/ML tools they need along with related IT infrastructure and tooling, according to Robinson.

“AI is a top enterprise priority and it‘s a fast-growing market. TD Synnex is all about helping our partners capture and leverage the growth in the market,” said Cheryl Neal, TD Synnex vice president of new vendor acquisition, in an interview with CRN. “Our goal is to be the premier AI solutions orchestrator and market share leader, and really the destination for all AI and ML opportunities to support our partner ecosystem.”

In addition to its technology vendor alliances, Domino works with systems integrators, VARs/resellers, and consulting service providers through its Domino Partner Network program. Partners offer value-added services, consulting, customized solutions and solutions tailored to vertical industries. The alliance with TD Synnex, headquartered in Clearwater, Fla., will expose Domino’s MLOps platform to an even broader group of solution providers, Robinson said.

Key to the Domino Data Lab–TD Synnex alliance is the distributor’s Solutions Factory process that develops pre-configured, ready-to-deploy systems that integrate products from multiple IT vendors. That cutss the amount of integration and configuration work that solution providers have to do, reducing complexity, speeding time-to-market and allowing them to focus on other value-added services.

“This is a way to help us help accelerate the value of those ML and AI investments that our partners are making,” Neal said. “I think the Domino solution fits right into what we do within our Solutions Factory methodology and will be a key component to helping us deliver those types of solutions.”

TD Synnex will provide technical support to partners, in collaboration with Domino, along with partner training, financing, product demonstrations (through the distributor’s solution centers and on-site) and use cases through the solutions catalog. The distributor is also helping partners develop AI practices through its practice builder framework methodology, according to Neal.

Some predict that the demand for AI and machine learning solutions could be huge, Neal said. “And it‘s coming up in more and more of the conversations we’re having with our partners because it‘s coming up in conversations with their end users. Our goal is to enable our partners to feel really comfortable in those conversations.”

Robinson said a number of current Domino partners already work with TD Synnex. Current direct partners will work with the distributor if they are signed up as an exclusive reseller for TD Synnex. “We’ve made sure it’s all above board with them,” he said.

Working with TD Synnex will increase Domino’s ratio of channel sales to direct sales, Robinson said, without disclosing specifics. “We‘ve started on that path over the past couple of years. We’ll do a lot more through the channel and we have built incentives for our salespeople to make the channel appealing to them, to do business with the channel rather than direct deals. And we’ll absolutely continue to do more of that.”

Which is why Domino Data Lab is launching two partner accreditation programs this week, part of Domino University, tailored for solution providers and for implementation and consulting service partners.

The new Domino Data Science Practitioner Accreditation focuses on training data science practitioners on proven methods to more easily create data science and machine learning projects from scratch on the Domino platform. The new Domino App Administration Accreditation trains Domino administrators within data science and IT teams in best practices for managing the Domino platform after it’s installed.

The accreditation programs are designed to help service providers quickly get their clients up to speed on Domino, according to the company, and help solution providers build custom applications on the platform for specific vertical use cases, according to the company.

“We‘re basically training up partners so they can take on more of the services and support over time,” Robinson said. “We have always been very partner focused, and we’ll continue to do that through services. We don‘t want to be a services organization ourselves. We want to start with enablement for partners as a base principle for the way we build our business and this accreditation process is part of that.”

Domino Data Lab is also announcing that its platform, which has been fully compatible and integrated with Microsoft Azure for several years, is now available through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. Azure customers can acquire Domino licenses using their Microsoft Azure consumption commitment (MACC). The Domino software is already available through the AWS Marketplace.