TD Synnex stocks Cisco Refresh products

Vendors have come under increased pressure to improve their sustainability position and support the reselling of refurbished kit to extend the life of hardware.

TD Synnex and Cisco have provided a prime example of what that looks like from a channel perspective, with the distributor getting the nod from the networking giant to provide more its Refresh-certified remanufactured equipment offerings.

The distie will now hold Refresh stock so it can ship them out to partners in a move that will reduce delivery time and increase exposure of the channel to more of this type of equipment.

The Refresh products cover numerous segments, including collaboration devices, routers, switches, security solution and transceiver modules. The certified remanufactured equipment has been tested to meet the same standards users would expect from a brand new product.

The clear benefit for partners using the service is to be able to offer customers a more sustainable option. Research from TD Synnex revealed that being able to demonstrate green credentials is a must-have, with 69% stating they saw ESG considerations in more procurement decisions.

At the same time, an increasing number of resellers are already providing take-back schemes and doing their part to develop a circular economy story. The distributor found that a third were also planning to invest in product lifecycle management in the next year.

Sam Paris, vice-president of security and networking at TD Synnex, said that taking the step of having the stock on its warehouse shelves would make a real difference.

“Having Cisco Refresh stock on the shelf means that we can serve our partners with agility and transparency, and while the products may be pre-owned, there is no compromise on quality, performance or upgrade status. Thanks to Cisco’s rigorous certification process and standards, these products really are as good as new,” he said.

The distributor is also in a position to support partners across Europe that want to obtain Cisco’s Environmental Sustainability Specialisation accreditation.

“This is a great example of how we at TD Synnex bring our corporate commitment to circular economy principles to life, helping our industry partners to minimise waste and win in the market with a robust offering of remanufactured products across a broad selection of categories,” added Paris.

The industry has been calling for moves such as this one from TD Synnex and Cisco for some time. Back in October 2022, Alastair Edwards, chief analyst at Canalys, used a slot at the Channel Forum to urge the industry to embrace refurbished kit to help meet sustainability goals.

He warned that a culture of pushing new goods, rather than giving kit a second life, was undermining the position of the industry and failing to respond to the trends in the market: “We see many of you channel partners that want to do this, and your customers are asking for it.”