Avnet TS/Tech Data deal has left me speechless

It is early days and nobody has any idea how this particular deal will pan out, but the pace of consolidation in the industry is actually frightening now

Last week I was presenting at a CRN On event all about the channel of the future.

The C-word was mentioned a lot. Consolidation.

At the time, HP Inc had just bought Samsung's print division and I was shocked by that. Little did I know what was to come!

And we all agreed more consolidation was inevitable. But I wasn't expecting Avnet's Technology Solutions division to be bought by Tech Data the very next week!

This level of shock is on a par with the HP/Compaq, Avnet/Bell and Dell/EMC announcements. Oh and Ingram being bought by HNA Group.

To me this is like Microsoft buying Oracle. Or IBM buying Microsoft. And it makes me wonder what on earth is next.

I've been in this industry for 16 years, and have never known consolidation to happen this quickly.

We have talked about it so much over the years and it finally feels like it has reached warp speed.

Of course, it is way too early to speculate about what is going to happen as a result of the $2.6bn deal, but I do wonder how it is going to work in the UK.

Will there be a lot of crossover? Or will the two firms just fit together?

This is going to be a long and complicated process, even more so than when Avnet bought Bell.

Distribution is undergoing the biggest ever shift in its lifetime, as traditional product shifting models are no longer profitable and it is all about adding value.

The bigger guys have no choice but to get bigger, as the smaller, more agile players are still able to grow organically and have room to move.

Avnet Technology Solutions has prided itself on adding value and will bring a new geographical presence in Asia Pac to Tech Data as well as new skills.

I wonder how different the cultures of the two firms will be and how they are going to be brought together - it is going to be an interesting story to watch.

Keep your eyes on channelweb for all the reaction and news as it happens.