For as long as I’ve worked in technology distribution, system integrations between distributors and partners have promised to unlock greater efficiency, speed, and customer value. And while much progress has been made, integration remains harder than it should be, often complex, costly, and out of reach for many partners.

In today’s IT ecosystem, partners are expected to operate with agility while navigating external pressures. The third annual, 2025 Direction of Technology North America Supplement report revealed that 55% of North American partners consider digital transformation a top concern, and 54% are focused on adapting to challenges like supply chain disruptions and rising interest rates. These concerns surpass the global average, highlighting the urgency for solutions that reduce friction and enable smarter operations. Too often, these challenges result in manual workflows, increased errors, and slower decision making, and as a result, sub optimal customer experiences procuring and managing technology.

While APIs, EDI connections, and other integration tools have long existed, what became clear through a conversation with Michael Kanan, the CEO of InaCOMP, was that the gap wasn’t about availability, it was about accessibility. The tools were there, but often difficult to implement without significant development resources.

That gap was the catalyst for TD SYNNEX Digital Bridge.

Listening First, Building Second

Digital Bridge wasn’t born from an internal initiative— it began from the conversation with Michael and evolved based on feedback from our partners and a shared desire to close the integration gap. We made the decision early on to reframe integration not as a feature we provide, but as an experience we are responsible for shaping.

Our goal was to remove barriers and deliver practical solutions that fit partners’ realities. We invested in pre-built, low-code, and no-code options that allow partners to connect to TD SYNNEX without custom development. We automated manual processes like quoting, order management, invoicing, and cloud provisioning so partners can focus on growth rather than administration.

Just as importantly, we developed a plugin for Microsoft Teams and Outlook that integrate TD SYNNEX data directly into the tools partners use daily, helping reduce unnecessary steps and enable faster decision-making.  

The goal: to bring information and insight directly to the point of need.

Dani Lockett, Vice President, Sales Operations at Burwood Group, shared:
“The Sales Operations and Product Operations teams were introduced to the Microsoft app in Teams earlier this year. While the information available through the app is also on the TD SYNNEX ECE portal, having quick search, order and invoice data in Teams is a time saver. Everyone in our company is tethered to Teams throughout the day. Product Operations shared the app with our Finance team, and now they’re using it too. The number of email inquiries to Product Ops dropped immediately because Finance can get basic information on their own. That success has led us to plan an expansion of the Digital Bridge Teams app to the rest of Sales and our PMO group. With zero integration effort required, adoption is a no-brainer.”

This approach wasn’t about keeping pace with competitors or adding features for the sake of it. It was about answering the core question: How do we make integration easier and more meaningful, delivering information and insights where and when they’re needed most to truly support our partners’ success?

What Sets Digital Bridge Apart

What distinguishes this effort isn’t just the technology — it’s the intent behind it. We chose to build and own these capabilities ourselves rather than rely on third-party platforms, so we could deliver solutions with depth, security, and real alignment to our partners’ operations.

We also took care to balance system-to-system connectors with tools that enhance daily interactions because true integration isn’t just about systems talking to each other; it’s about enabling people to serve customers better.

And perhaps most importantly, we didn’t pursue this alone. Digital Bridge reflects the power of partnership in action shaped by the voices of those we serve.

“The openness and level of collaboration with clients and vendors is beyond refreshing. I’m used to getting a brief survey, then waiting for a few years until a new portal or tool is rolled out. Here, my team is beta testing, meeting regularly with the TD SYNNEX integration team on feature enhancements and priorities—and we know what’s coming in the next sprint. TD SYNNEX’s investment in the Digital Bridge team and initiatives is crucial to the channel and a clear investment in all channel partners and vendors.” — Dani Lockett, Burwood Group

Where We Are Today: Connector Bridge and Beyond

Digital Bridge is more than a single tool — it’s an evolving strategy to reduce friction across the partner ecosystem. With the launch of the Digital Bridge Microsoft Teams and Outlook plugin, we’ve already helped partners streamline their workflows, reduce manual steps, and improve decision-making. These tools are being used today to bring efficiency and agility into the partner’s day-to-day operations.

The introduction of Connector Bridge for partners in the U.S. and Canada marks the next step.

Adam Sprague, Chief Executive Officer at BrunNet IT Solutions, noted:
“My team has been extremely impressed with the Microsoft App to date. Having access to the real-time data in both Outlook and Teams has saved us a ton of time. The new TD SYNNEX Connector Bridge is going to be a real gamechanger. Being able to pull all our data into our standardized PSA will create huge efficiencies. With technology evolving so rapidly, and our customers increasingly depending on it to drive their businesses, we have to automate our processes just to keep up. We could hire a team of developers to standardize our platforms and build our own APIs, but that would be costly and take several months. With Connector Bridge, the heavy lifting is already done for us, and we can take advantage of the platform immediately.”

Our roadmap includes integrations with the platforms our partners rely on the most: ConnectWise, Autotask, ServiceNow, Make.com, and Zapier — without writing a single line of code. And we’re continuing to expand with connectors for Salesforce, QuickBooks, NetSuite, HubSpot, and Microsoft Dynamics, each built and maintained by TD SYNNEX to ensure security and seamless integration.

And this is only the beginning, our vision for Digital Bridge doesn’t stop with connectors and plugins. We are advancing toward AI-enabled capabilities that will help partners engage customers with greater insight and confidence, directly in real-time, at the moment of need.

Empowering Our Teams to Build Smarter Solutions

We will continue listening to partners and evolving Digital Bridge.

What has made Digital Bridge especially meaningful is how it reflects not just our commitment to partners, but our internal culture of trust and empowerment. When we identified this opportunity, our leadership didn’t hesitate to support the investment and give us the support and resources to pursue the right solution — one designed for lasting value, not just speed to market,

That spirit of innovation and collaboration runs through this entire effort.

Digital Bridge reflects how we’re working alongside partners to strengthen connections, remove complexity, and create meaningful business outcomes. We see this as just one step in an ongoing dialogue with our partners about how to remove complexity and deliver better outcomes together. For more, visit our website.