Dicker Data joins elite group with Microsoft Frontier Distributor status

A six-month program combined with a channel-led model has seen the distributor gain highest distributor accreditation.

Dicker Data has been awarded Microsoft Frontier Distributor status, recognition that it can support partners across the full cloud and AI lifecycle. It is one of only four distributors globally to gain the highest distributor benchmark.

It is Microsoft’s most rigorous distributor benchmark and assessment includes operations, service maturity, platform capability, partner enablement as well as technical resourcing and marketing.

Dicker Data joins a small group of global distributors with Frontier status that includes Ingram Micro and TD Synnex. In Dicker Data’s case, it was achieved as a local business not at a global level.

“We achieved it ourselves as an ANZ-based entity,” Fiona Brown, executive chair and managing director at Dicker Data said.

The Frontier designation comes after a six-month process and investment in Microsoft practice and digital platform across the region.

Dicker Data has developed specialist capabilities that span pre-sales, sales, help desk, technical services, marketing and partner enablement.

Dicker Data said it has built its Microsoft business around this partner-first, locally executed approach, designed specifically for the ANZ market. Instead of developing capabilities in-house, it connects its reseller base with certified specialist partners to deliver services across Azure, security, modern work, data and AI.

The model uses selected partners and their specialised skillsets. This creates more business for our partners and drives growth across the channel, said Brown. Dicker Data’s Microsoft practice includes more than 50 specialists across the region and together they support more than 3,000 Microsoft partners.

A central part of the model has been Dicker Data’s partnerships with specialists such as TechClick and 365Architects that helped the distributor meet the Frontier requirements of deep technical expertise and capabilities.

Harnessing demand for cloud and AI

As customer demand shifts towards more complex cloud and AI solutions, Dicker Data is finding that distributors are increasingly called upon to support partners beyond transactions to cover services and platforms.

Frontier status gives Dicker Data and its partners greater access to Microsoft programs, resources and advanced tooling, strengthening their ability to pursue larger and more complex opportunities across cloud, security and AI.

While Dicker Data operates exclusively in ANZ, this is a globally recognised status and will help enable partners to take on more complex, higher-value customer engagements. This includes Copilot, data platforms and AI-driven applications.

“For partners, this designation demonstrates Dicker Data's ability to achieve the most rigorous distribution standards set out by Microsoft, and reaffirms our ability to support partners of all sizes in the transformations and AI deployments their driving with their customers,” Brown said