Avnet rejigs strategy to boost vendor focus

Taking stock: Avnet has revamped its business model in the wake of its recent acquisitions.

Avnet Technology Solutions is overhauling its business model following its acquisitions of Sun distributor Access and the enterprise arm of Magirus.

The distributor is ditching three of its four existing business units - Avnet Partner Solutions, Avnet Visual+Data Solutions and Avnet Applied Computing Solutions - in favour of a more vendor-oriented model.

By the end of the year, Avnet's solutions business will operate under four product groups across Europe: IBM; Hewlett-Packard; Sun and Eizo; and a Solutions and Services area that
will complement its main manufacturing lines.

The only unit that will remain intact is Avnet's Computing Components Group.

Also Avnet's country managers will be known as country sales managers from now on to make them more revenue accountable.

Matthew Gower, who formerly headed up the UK Visual+Data arm, has just been appointed country sales manager for the UK.

He told CRN: "Our goal is to offer more and more solutions to the market and this structure creates a more flexible means to incorporate new solutions into the organisation."

Gower said the move would allow Avnet to drive solution sales together with its central manufacturer lines.

Simon Welch, marketing director at rival Sun distributor Horizon, said: "This moves Avnet some way towards putting some clear water between its vendors, but it does not completely solve the challenge that it is developing multiple streams from multiple competitive vendors.

"The danger of making lots of acquisitions is that firms can end up as a broadliner offering low value to the vendors."