The SMAs and TD SYNNEX meet the contenders

CRN speaks to the distribution giant about its achievements in the last year and what it means to be nominated for the SMAs 2023

The CRN Sales and Marketing Awards 2023 are only two days away, and as we prepare to find out the winners at this year's ceremony on Thursday 29 June at Leonardo Royal Hotel, Tower Bridge, we meet some of the contenders.

Today we speak to David Watts, SVP and MD for the UK and Ireland at TD SYNNEX.

Watts has more than 20 years of experience working in the IT channel, almost all of which he has spent at TD SYNNEX. He first joined the company in 1998 and subsequently held various sales and management positions. Appointed managing director in February 2018, Watts has since been given the added role of senior vice president, reflecting the central role he plays in setting the overall strategy and direction of the business in the UK and Ireland.

TD SYNNEX have been shortlisted for three awards - Best Marketing Campaign (distributor), Best Company to Work For and Best Warehouse Team.

Why do you think awards like the SMAs matter?

It's a great way of recognising the contributions that specific teams and individuals make to our business and to the industry as a whole. We always support the CRN Channel Awards and while they rightly shine a spotlight on the companies that set the highest standards, the SMAs give us a chance to celebrate the important and excellent work that takes place across many of our teams .

What would winning this award mean to your company?

It's more about what it would mean to the members of those teams who have been put forward. We are immensely proud of them and what they have done for our customers, partners, co-workers and our business. Being shortlisted is an achievement in itself, of course, and it would be fitting recognition of their selfless effort and determination if any or all of them were to win.

What would you say is your company's proudest achievement over the past year?

We are incredibly proud of the way our co-workers have responded, collectively and individually, to the economic challenges. How they have pulled and worked together to meet the needs of our customers and each other, while making TD SYNNEX a positive, supportive and equitable environment for everyone. That's culminated in us being Certified™ by Great Place to Work® for 2023, following a rigorous assessment process that involved a detailed survey of co-worker views and experiences.

What have been the biggest challenges of 2023 so far and how have you overcome them? How have your people helped with that?

Inflation has been the big challenge for everyone - and that's had an impact not only on our business, but also on our co-workers and on our customers and suppliers. We have maintained a consistent strategy and the response from our co-workers has been phenomenal. They have stuck together, worked extremely hard and looked after each other. They have also looked after our customers really well and enabled us to keep our business on a steady course.

How do you think the channel has changed over the past year and what changes do you think it still needs to make?

It has become more caring - about its people and about the planet - and even more resilient. The UK and Ireland channel is experienced and mature. It has weathered quite a few storms and always emerges stronger and even better equipped to turn whatever challenge comes next into an opportunity. The channel needs to and will continue to develop and become even more responsible, welcoming and open to new ideas and ways of working in the future.

What do you see as the main opportunities for the channel in the coming year? How do you plan to capitalise on those opportunities?

To build on our strengths and to help each other to keep growing, learning and developing - as individuals, businesses and collectively. In terms of markets, the cloud, cybersecurity, services and SMB remain good areas of opportunity. We are working extremely hard to make sure that TD SYNNEX is a great place to work, a great organisation to work with, and to deliver a really great experience for all our customers. All of our teams are contributing to that and making sure that we are the best that we can be for our partners, so that they in turn can be the best they can be for their end user customers.