Distributor Acquisitions Lead To Emphasis On VAR Solutions

(Fremont, CA) — There have been several shake-ups over the last couple of years with acquisitions and mergers between distributors, and SYNNEX has been involved in two of these transactions in the POS (point of sale) and data capture industries. SYNNEX purchased the Canadian-based distributor EMJ in 2004 and followed with Telpar in early 2006, creating a considerable POS and AIDC (automatic identification and data collection) unit over a short period of time.

On a recent visit to the distributor's California offices, I talked with several of the company's executives, including Mark Tanner, VP of EMJ/ SYNNEX TSD (Technology Solutions Division), about the integration of the businesses and how the division has adapted. "We never missed a step between the acquisitions and integration of business units, with North American sales increasing more than 100% in 2006," said Tanner. "Our division is increasing the solutions focus in 2007, adding software vendors and vertical market solutions in AIDC, POS, card technologies, and physical security."

The TSD Division was introduced in 2005 as a separate business unit of SYNNEX. Software and support services are a greater focus of this unit, with less emphasis on volume hardware sales. While physical security and card technologies are on the rise and integrate well with other solutions, SYNNEX executives believe POS and data capture products still have great growth potential with a solutions approach. "The hardware and service offerings VARs provide to their customers is increased exponentially with the solutions ISVs [independent software vendors] bring to the equation," said Tanner. Building preconfigured systems and vertical market solutions are vital for vendors and partners to address specific customer needs, since the sale becomes more about what the technology can do than what it costs.