Adding value
The CEO of multinational distributor Tech Data, Bob Dutkowsky, has given HEXUS.channel a glimpse of the future direction of his company, which is known as Computer 2000 in the UK.
“We have created a new category of distributor to define ourselves: value-line. This is a combination of the terms broad-line and value-add,” he said.
Asked why he is so keen for Tech Data to be viewed as more of a value-add distributor, Dutkowsky said: “In the US VARs are increasingly outsourcing a lot of their service offering to distributors in order to maximise the time they can spend on consultation – their most lucrative business. I would expect to see that trend emerging in Europe before long.”
It seems it’s no longer enough for distributors to service current technology trends, they have to keep on top of future ones too. “Ice hockey great Wayne Gretsky was once asked why he was so good,” said Dutkowsky. “‘I skate to where the puck is going to be,’ he answered. We got good at skating to where the puck is, now we need to be where it’s going.”
So where is it going? “Virtualisation, video conferencing through companies like LifeSize and the next killer app could ne the ‘greening’ of the data centre. Some vendors are already incentivising green behaviour,” he said.
Another strong trend is towards software as a service (SaaS). “Today software accounts for ten percent of Tech Data’s business but we want to grow it to 25 percent, which could include SaaS. A future model could see Tech Data acting as a sales agent for SaaS companies – effectively leasing out our database and sales force.”
Lastly, we asked if all this signifies a move away from Tech Data’s traditional areas of business. “We consciously scaled down our activity in the retail market – the payment terms were no good – but etail is better and it’s bigger in the US,” said Dutkowsky. “We have put heavy investment into the smaller end of the SMB market, dealing with small business focused VARs.”
Dutkowsky was speaking at the first European gathering of the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC), which exists to promote and publicise many of the world’s largest distributors.
