On Tuesday of this week, Tech Data made a bit of its own distribution history. The Clearwater, Fla.-based company held its first board meeting outside of the U.S.
They chose Tech Data Canada’s Mississauga, Ont.-based facility to hold this meeting. Company CEO Bob Dutkowsky told CDN that Tech Data Canada was the perfect location to hold the first board meeting outside of the U.S. because it has its sales and marketing offices right next to its logistics centre making it easier for the executives to see both.
Tech Data luminaries such as company chairman Steve Raymund and Americas president Murray Wright were in attendance along with Canadian president Rick Reid.
“The board has a rhythm and its meets four times a year in Clearwater, Fla. But the board has pushed management to take this meeting someplace else and Canada is first because we can walk across to sales, marketing and logistics. We can see and touch the operation all in one place. And, it is a way to reward Rick (Reid) and his team for performing well,” Dutkowsky said.Dutkowsky added that Tech Data is off to a good start in the second quarter in both geographies (North America and Europe). Despite the troubles in many European economies Tech Data’s strategy has been to centralize in stronger coountries. “Europe has some difficulties in places like Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. But it’s not the same in northern countries such as Germany, UK, France and the Benelux countries. All of our investments there have paid off there,” he said.
Tech Data in the last little while acquired 14 companies in Europe that specialized in consumer electronics, cellphones, and the data centre.
In the Americas, Dutkowsky admitted Tech Data took a step back in the second quarter because of increased market competition and the company is implementing SAP.
“The U.S. economy is stagnant now because we are waiting for the presidential election. We have two candidates that are so different it will have a big impact on the country so the U.S. is in wait and see mode,” he said.
Ingram Micro gives U.S.-based channel partners a growth initiative with increases in credit limits.
No word yet on if the distributor plans on offering these credit limits to Canadian channel partners, but in the U.S. it will help solution providers drive growth in the SMB and consumer electronics markets by increasing the credit lines of more than 680 pre-qualified U.S.-based solution providers and managed service providers (MSPs).Collectively the increases account for more than $8 million in available credit and were awarded to a select group of more than 500 pre-qualified channel partners who primarily sell to the SMBs, as well as 175 high-potential channel partners focused on the consumer electronics (CE) space. The chosen partners were identified through a collaborative and thorough vetting process conducted by Ingram Micro’s credit analysts team called the Business Intelligence Center. Jamie Ferullo, director of sales, SMB, Ingram Micro U.S., said gaining access to working capital is a challenge for many channel partners — especially those who are focused on meeting the business technology needs of today’s growing SMBs. By identifying high-potential partners and extending them greater credit limits, we’re helping to remove one of the biggest barriers to earning new and incremental business, and further enabling their success.
Ingram also enhanced its retail portfolio with additional support for BrandSource Dealers. This will include national warehouse presence for white goods and consumer electronics.
And, Ingram also announced this week that its board of directors elected Paul Read, chief financial officer and executive vice president for Flextronics, to serve as an independent director, and appointed him to serve as a member of the Audit and the Human Resources Committees, all effective Sept. 1, 2012. The election of Read increases the Ingram Micro board of directors from 10 to 11.