Avnet is a much different company today than it was when you started, how would you say the company has changed in this time? Certainly I would say the biggest difference is that we are now a global company with operations in 70 countries. We’ve built our global presence through more than 40 acquisitions.
As a matter of fact, when I first started, Avnet didn’t even have a computer business — that came later — but I had the opportunity to run what was, at the time, Hamilton/Avnet Computer, when it was just getting going. The interesting thing is that when I first started leading Hamilton/Avnet Computer, we had about $300 million in revenue. Today our global computer business is more than $7 billion.
The increase in scope and scale has given us the resources to invest in tools for our resellers, such as Channel Connection, that make it easier for them to do business. We’re much more focused today on providing value-added services that enable our customers to grow their businesses whereas in the early days, our value was based more on having the right products available at competitive prices. As a business partner, what can Avnet offer resellers and solution providers that other companies can’t?
That’s an interesting question because one of the things our customers tell us is that our people really make the difference for them. They count on the Avnet team to understand their business and the industry and then work with them to help them to grow their business. So, what we really have to offer is the Avnet team.
They are highly qualified with great technical skills and industry knowledge, but they’re also committed to serving our customers with integrity. And they have a passion to win on behalf of their customers. Avnet offers a great suite of services and tools to benefit our customers as well, and we work with the world’s leading manufacturers, Avnet is a much different company today than it was when you started, how would you say the company has changed in this time?
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