Avnet Building Vertical Market Dream Team for Partners?

Question: How can a distributor like Avnet Technology Solutions help VARs to push into vertical markets like retail, energy and financial services? Answer: Avnet has hired four seasoned pros with deep vertical market expertise. Who are they? The VAR Guy met the recent Avnet recruits earlier today. Here’s their story.

The expanded lineup of vertical market pros includes:

Delgado, Evans and Geer report to Houghton within the Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas group. Their mission: Develop Avnet RetailPath, EnergyPath and FinancialPath — three practice areas announced today at the Avnet-IBM Partner Summit in San Antonio, Texas. The VAR Guy allegedly is attending the event and he’s certainly not watching the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat showdown right now.

Something Old, Something New

Avnet has been down this path before. The value-added distributor has previously developed the Avnet HealthPath and GovPath initiatives. Avnet says each SolutionsPath allows VARs to:

So, where are Delgado, Evans and Geer focusing their efforts first? Key priorities include launching RetailPath University, EnergyPath University and FinacialPath University — which will train partners on the specific verticals. Houghton says each university will likely arrive by the end of March 2011.

In the meantime, Avnet is focusing on vertical market events. This week, Evans’ team is focused on the Rural Smart Grid Summit (Oct. 26-29, Puerto Rico), which will attract roughly 80 utility co-ops. Similarly, Delgado expects Avnet to have a major presence at the National Retail Federation’s 100th anniversary conference (January 9-12, 2011, New York).

Where Are the Opportunities for VARs?

Each vertical market leader points to big potential market opportunities. Examples include:

1. Energy: The market segment includes large investor-owned utilities, government municipal utilities (2,000 across the U.S.) and 870 utility co-ops (which are member-owned and typically located in rural areas). Evans says her focus is on partner recruitment — identifying existing energy partners that need additional solutions, plus new partners that have ideal skills for the utility vertical.

2. Financial Services: The US market includes about 8,500 financial institutions, and only about 60 of them served directly by major IT vendors — leaving roughly 8,440 potential channel partner opportunities. Geer says a big focus going forward will be on ISV partnerships.

3. Retail: Delgado sees opportunities in multi-channel retailing, helping partners to ensure end-customers deliver consistent branding and user experiences across multiple platforms (face-to-face, point of sale, online, etc.). “Everything from the web to smart phones to kiosks must deliver a same look and feel and quality experience,” says Delgado.

The Real Deal?

The VAR Guy will be watching closely to see how Delgado, Evans, Geer and Houghton perform within the Avnet culture. Generally speaking, Avnet is filled with loyal employees — many of whom have been with the company for 10 years or more. And Avnet is filled with long-term heritage. The company has been working with IBM for 25 years, and Avnet is celebrating 50 years as a publicly held company.

Phil Gallagher, global president for Avnet Technology Solutions, says Avnet is blending the best of the old with the best of the new. One of the company’s key values is innovation. And he expects newcomers like Delgado, Evans, Geer and Houghton to deliver on that value.

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