VANCOUVER – Tech Data Canada recently brought together an extraordinary group of West-coast VARs and vendors for a panel discussion on the growth of the IT sector in Western Canada.
The event was part of Tech Data Canada’s grand opening of its Richmond, B.C.-based distribution centre. The new 78,000-sq.-ft., 18-bay facility more than triples its old distribution centre (23,000 sq.-ft.) and will service resellers in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and the territories.
Principals of the Seven Group Inc., DTM Systems Corp., Mainland Information Systems Ltd. spelled out their success as business partners in the West at the panel discussion.
According to Anthony Brown of the Seven Group, his company has grown 35 per cent year over year in both B.C. and Alberta. The success has come so fast that Brown is looking at ways in which the Seven Group can handle the growth.
Rick Reid, president of Tech Data Canada, said that distribution is a bell-weather for growth in any area of the country. And, Tech Data has seen 40 per cent year over year sales growth in just Alberta. In B.C. Tech Data has grown 15 per cent. Both provinces have grown faster than its overall growth for the country. It is one of the reasons why the distributor invested in expanding its facility.
Richard Woodruff, a panel member representing Cisco Canada, said the subsidiary’s growth has kept pace in the West, especially on the SMB side. Woodruff believes this kind of growth is sustainable because Western Canada is less of a large enterprise play and more of a small business to mid-market opportunity for the networking vendor.
Paul Martin, president of DTM of Vancouver, saw the resurgence in the B.C. economy about 18 months ago. Western Canada, Martin believes, was hit hard after the dot.com bubble burst because of its proximity to Silicon Valley in California. It forced DTM to close down its Alberta office for two-years.
Both Martin and Reid believe that Vancouver being awarded the 2010 Winter Olympic games has had a trickle down effect in terms of boosting the economic fortunes of the province.
Meanwhile, the booming oil and gas and real estate industries in Alberta have been credited for the resurgence of the IT fortunes in that Western province.
Victoria Withers of IBM Canada told the panel that the spin-off from things such as the Olympics is that companies are hiring again especially in the travel and transportation sector in B.C. For example, there are 7,000 new summer jobs available in B.C. for youth employment. This, she believes, drives additional IT infrastructure spending. IBM has grown 20 per cent in both B.C. and Alberta year over year, she added.
Another industry that is making some noise in the B.C. economy is rich media and gaming. Electronic Arts, a well-known video game developer is now based in Vancouver. Brown claims this along with the movie and broadcast sectors has become an exploding market for solution providers such as Seven Group.
Martin added that there are really no slowing market areas in the West. He pointed to healthcare as an example. The healthcare market has lots of money to spend and is very competitive, he said.
Woodruff agreed, citing markets such as K-to-12 education and municipalities as other growth segments of Western Canada. Connected learning is a new market opportunity that Cisco is trying to push across to its partner base. Woodruff said Cisco is asking its resellers to be broader and deeper in product solutions such as wireless, telephony and security to tackle these new opportunities.
Cheryl A. Neal, a panel member from IBM Canada, added that there is a business-friendly economy out West and the governments are responsible for that because they actually help out the SMB businesses.
Martin added that labour and taxation laws have changed for the better. In the past, SMBs were taxed similar to large banks. This did not encourage entrepreneurship in B.C., he said.
Another factor, according to Neal, is that B.C. companies in general like to buy from other companies based in the province.