A cross-portfolio intelligence study of four major Technology Solutions Distributors — Telarus, AVANT, Intelisys, and Sandler Partners — mapping overlap, exclusivity, and competitive differentiation across 754 unique suppliers.
This report analyzes the supplier portfolios of four major Technology Solutions Distributors, mapping overlap, exclusivity, and competitive differentiation across 754 unique suppliers.
The analysis finds a TSD ecosystem that is simultaneously competitive and commoditized. More than half of Telarus’s portfolio is unavailable through any other TSD, while Intelisys carries the most widely overlapping catalog of the four. Sandler Partners emerges as a meaningfully differentiated fourth player, with one-third of its portfolio exclusive to its channel — a finding that challenges the conventional view of the market as a three-player landscape.
Sixty-four suppliers are carried by all four TSDs simultaneously, representing the fully commoditized core of the market where differentiation must come from factors other than supplier access.
Total verified supplier listings by TSD, and the combined unique supplier universe across all four distributors.
Telarus leads with 445 verified suppliers — nearly double the Intelisys count. The 754-supplier unique total reveals that no single TSD covers the full market: even the largest portfolio reaches only 59% of the available supplier universe.
Advisors relying on any single distributor’s directory are, by definition, unable to see more than half the available market.
The most common unit of comparison in channel analysis. Provides a direct measure of bilateral competition between any two distributors.
Telarus overlaps with Intelisys at 62% of Intelisys’ portfolio — the highest bilateral overlap rate in the dataset. AVANT and Sandler Partners have the lowest pairwise overlap at 41.1%, suggesting the most differentiated supplier bases relative to one another.
Regardless of whether the fourth also carries them. Reveals the depth of cross-TSD supplier availability.
The three-way combinations involving Telarus consistently show the highest shared counts, reflecting its larger portfolio size and therefore greater likelihood of intersecting with any combination of other TSDs.
The AVANT–Intelisys–Sandler Partners combination, at 76 shared suppliers, is notable for representing a meaningful cluster of suppliers accessible across three distributors independent of the largest portfolio.
Suppliers carried by all four TSDs simultaneously — the segment where TSD selection has no bearing on supplier access.
These suppliers represent the fully commoditized core of the market. Advisor access to this tier is undifferentiated by TSD — selection decisions in this segment are driven by factors other than portfolio availability.
While this tier is real and strategically significant for suppliers within it, it represents a narrow slice of the overall market. The channel’s commodity problem is concentrated, not endemic.
The strongest indicator of portfolio differentiation and the most direct measure of competitive uniqueness. These suppliers are not carried by any of the other three TSDs.
Telarus leads in absolute exclusive count at 237 suppliers — more than half its portfolio unavailable elsewhere. AVANT’s exclusivity rate of 43.7% is notable given its mid-tier total portfolio size, indicating a deliberate curation strategy rather than a pure volume approach.
Sandler Partners’ 85 exclusive suppliers — one-third of its total portfolio — confirms that Sandler occupies genuine, non-duplicative market territory. For advisors and suppliers evaluating TSD relationships, Sandler’s exclusive footprint warrants consideration alongside the more established players.
The complete segmentation of the 754-supplier universe across all 15 possible TSD combinations. Each row represents suppliers exclusive to that exact combination — carried by those TSDs and no others.
| Segment | Count | % of 754 |
|---|---|---|
| Telarus only | 237 | 31.4% |
| AVANT only | 132 | 17.5% |
| Sandler Partners only | 85 | 11.3% |
| Intelisys only | 45 | 6.0% |
| Telarus + Sandler Partners | 31 | 4.1% |
| Telarus + AVANT | 28 | 3.7% |
| Telarus + AVANT + Intelisys | 26 | 3.4% |
| Telarus + Intelisys | 21 | 2.8% |
| Telarus + Intelisys + Sandler | 21 | 2.8% |
| Telarus + AVANT + Sandler | 17 | 2.3% |
| AVANT + Intelisys | 12 | 1.6% |
| Intelisys + Sandler Partners | 12 | 1.6% |
| AVANT + Intelisys + Sandler | 12 | 1.6% |
| AVANT + Sandler Partners | 11 | 1.5% |
| All four TSDs | 64 | 8.5% |
The single-TSD segments account for 66.2% of the total supplier universe — two-thirds of the market accessible through only one distributor. Despite the narrative of commoditization in the channel, the majority of supplier access remains differentiated at the TSD level.
499 of 754 suppliers are carried by exactly one TSD. The widely held view that TSD portfolios are largely interchangeable is not supported by the data. Differentiation is the norm; overlap is the exception.
With 85 exclusive suppliers and a 33.6% exclusivity rate, Sandler is not a market follower. Advisors and suppliers evaluating distributor relationships should treat Sandler as a substantive fourth option.
237 exclusive suppliers and a 53.3% exclusivity rate reflect Telarus’s position as the widest-reaching distributor in the dataset. Its supplier footprint extends significantly beyond what any other single TSD offers.
At 43.7% exclusivity on a 302-supplier portfolio, AVANT’s numbers suggest active portfolio management rather than maximum accumulation. Restraint in total size alongside a high exclusivity rate points to selectivity as a competitive posture.
64 suppliers — 8.5% of the total universe — are accessible through all four TSDs. The channel’s commodity problem is concentrated, not endemic.
Even the broadest TSD portfolio covers only 59% of the total supplier universe. Advisors relying on any single distributor’s directory are unable to see more than half the available market.
The Channel Standard publishes independent research and intelligence on the technology channel ecosystem. This analysis was produced from public TSD portfolio data to provide suppliers, advisors, and channel leaders with transparent, data-driven insight into how the market is structured.
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