March/April Issue by Tech Data

March/April 2015

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March/April 2015

Tech Data Canada Recognized by VMware

Distribution Partner of the Year

We introduce you to Tech Data Canada’s Digital Signage Specialist

TechSelect Member Partners with Cisco

Customer Appreciation Event Supports Two Worthy Causes

Comments, suggestions? Tell us what you think! jillian.cahill@techdata.ca

Executive Address Thank you!

Specialist Spotlight

TechSelect Member Profile We catch up with Evron Computer Systems Corp.

Partnering with Local Charities Management team discusses strategy and embraces opportunity to give back to the community

Editor Jillian Cahill Art Direction and Design Julie MacAulay Contributing Writers and Editors Irene Buchan, Jillian Cahill, Mary Bonnici Project Manager Monisha Sharma Tech Times is published and distributed six times per year to channel resellers across Canada. ©2015 Tech Data Canada Corporation. Prices, promotions, offers & terms and conditions of sale subject to change without notice. Errors and omissions excepted. All manufacturers’ names are registered trademarks of their respective corporations. This publication comes to you free from Tech Data Canada Corporation. We received your mailing address from your Tech Data customer account information. To make changes or to unsubscribe, please contact your Tech Data sales team at 800.668.5588 or notify us at emailcanada@techdata.ca. www.techtimesmagazine.ca

Casting call for sweet and adorable pets in honour of National Pet Awareness Day! That’s right, this is your chance to show off your pet to Tech Times readers across Canada. Send us a photo to enter them in the Tech Data Priceless Pet Contest! Our Tech Times team will vote and decide the winners who will be featured in an upcoming Tech Times issue. Photos can be sent to marketing@techdata.ca by April 30. www.techdata.ca

The Difference in Distribution

March/April 2015

January/February 2013

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ExecutiveAddress

Thank You! I had the pleasure of attending the Reseller Choice Awards recently in Markham, Ontario, and I’m incredibly proud to tell you that for the 8th consecutive year, Canadian resellers have voted us Distributor of the Year in Canada! In addition to being recognized as Distributor of the Year, Tech Data Canada was also given top marks in the following categories: 3 Best Distributor Channel Event 3 Best Availability/Delivery

support. We value your business and continually strive for excellence in execution in all that we do. We aim to overachieve and provide you with the services and support that you require each and every day to achieve success in your business. This award confirms that we are on the right track, and that together, there are no limits to what’s possible. Once again, thank you for your vote and for your continued partnership Sincerely,

3 Best Customer Service 3 Best Product Support 3 Best Terms and Conditions On behalf of the entire Tech Data Canada team, I’d like to thank all of our valued reseller partners across the country for this vote of confidence and your ongoing

Rick Reid President, Tech Data Canada

BEST DISTRIBUTOR

WINNER 2014 BEST best INDUSTRY industry EVENT event

BEST AVAILABILITY DELIVERY

WINNER 2014 2010

WINNER 2014

BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE

BEST PRODUCT SUPPORT

BEST TERMS AND CONDITIONS

WINNER 2014

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March/April 2015

Tech Data Canada Recognized as VMware Distribution Partner of the Year Tech Data Canada was recently honoured at the VMware Partner Exchange held in San Francisco, California with the 2014 VMware Distribution Partner of the Year Award. Tech Data Canada was recognized for excellence in revenue growth, commitment to the “software defined” vision, growth through the TechSelect community, and efforts in piloting new programs. “We are proud to receive the VMware Distributor of the Year award,” said Greg Myers, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Tech Data Canada. “This award recognizes our excellence in execution and our best-in-class customer service that we provide our reseller partners across Canada every day. We look forward to our continued mutual success throughout the year.” “We are pleased to recognize Tech Data Canada as the 2014 VMware Distribution Partner of the Year. Their record of outstanding execution and customer service is indicative of their commitment to the reseller partner community, and is reflected in the tremendous growth Tech Data Canada experienced with VMware this past year,” said Donna Wittmann, Sr. Director Commercial & Partner Sales, VMware Canada.

Specialist Spotlight

Tech Times sat down with Gabriel Pawchuk, Digital Signage Specialist at Tech Data Canada, to learn how he can help accelerate your business in a rapidly growing Digital Signage Market.

Gabriel Pawchuk Digital Signage Specialist Gabriel.Pawchuk@techdata.ca 905-286-6860

I have been supporting our reseller partners for over four years with their digital signage projects and opportunities. With a robust knowledge of current digital signage solutions, I help guide and collaborate with solution providers across Canada to select the best products that will fit their projects. I am a dedicated resource who provides the connection between our reseller and vendor partners or resellers and their sales teams to make the best choices in digital signage. By working together with our reseller partners, I assist with everything from Displays, Mounts, Cabling, Back End Solutions, Software, Interactive boards, Projectors and Small Format Monitors. The relationship that Tech Data has with leading manufacturers in the digital signage space will benefit new and existing partners looking to enter the digital signage market. I am available to engage with partners on conference calls, on-site visits, pre-sales technical support and any demo/trainings of digital signage solutions that are required. This also includes assisting our reseller partners with special pricing bids, customized price lists and helping them get authorized on products they may not be able to purchase yet. The combination of all these factors has led to mutual success with big project wins for our reseller partners and growth in our Digital Signage initiative at Tech Data.

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March/April 2015

Cisco & Compu-SOLVE support two worthy causes Cisco Canada and TechSelect member Compu-SOLVE Technologies Inc. thanked Midland, Ontario customers for their years of support with a charity movie night raising funds for not one but two worthy causes. In late January, loyal customers were treated to a fun movie experience with tickets and treats to see the award winning movie, The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley. The appreciation night brought out over 100 attendees all eager to donate to Cisco Canada’s Connected North program and to the local charity, Community Living Huronia. “We are so fortunate to live and work in such a caring and compassionate community”, said Rob Megaw Compu-SOLVE sales manager and TechSelect member representative. “I’m extremely grateful for their generosity and Cisco Canada’s support in making this night happen. Our spotlighted charities told a great story of what their organizations are doing for our local and northern communities. It was our pleasure to lend a helping hand.” The event helped raise $1,600 which was split between the two worthy causes. Tech Data Canada, a longstanding partner of CompuSOLVE Technologies Inc., a division of Vianet and proud supporter of Connected North, increased the donation to $1,000. All proceeds raised went to the Deh Gah School in Fort Providence, Northwest Territories. Connected North is a ground-breaking program that brings technology to schools across Canada’s north and is transforming lives through technology. Community Living Huronia has functioned for 60 years as a partnership of caring people working together to facilitate Midland’s acceptance, inclusion and support of individuals with exceptionalities as valued citizens. Compu-SOLVE would like to thank all those that helped make the night a success!

March/April 2015

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TechSelect Member Profile

In this issue of Tech Times, we catch up with Evron Computer Systems Corp to hear how TechSelect membership has helped them build valuable working relationships within the vendor community.

Evron Computer Systems Corp is a leading, trusted provider of IT infrastructure management and systems for financial, manufacturing, field service and intellectual property management. Our network infrastructure solutions can offer an extended IT department for our clients. As part of managed services, we perform network monitoring, maintenance, network rollouts and upgrades and day to day support. Our staff of 50 professionals continues our tradition of dedication, expertise and excellence since 1983. Evron is a true single-point-of-contact solution. We’ve helped hundreds of organizations across North America improve their customer service, increase sales, and cut the cost of doing business. We build deep, long-term relationships with our customers. Our professional staff typically have at least 10 years of experience and each member of our management team has over 20 years of experience. We partner with the industry leaders. Evron helps our clients compete in this world of change with rock-solid infrastructure and industry award winning SaaS and on premises ERP applications from Epicor, Acumatica and Sage. Our solutions scale to clients present and future requirements. We at Evron think that specific client industry focus and great customer service will be increasingly important. To ensure project success, we are geared to provide a full range of professional services including: consulting, development, implementation, training and support. We think Hybrid models of computing along with Mobility will be a big part of our future success. We are helping clients on a case-by-case basis to migrate their applications and infrastructure to SaaS or Evron private cloud delivery models. Our Field Service Solution provides access to data anywhere, anytime on any device. At Evron we focus on people. We strive to build great relationships with our employees, clients and of course – our vendor partners. We are very proud to partner with some of the leaders in their market space. Solutions from such leading organizations as Microsoft, Lenovo, Cisco, Symantec APC

Larry Noble - President, Amit (Sunny) Sahni - Vice President and Tech Data are key to our Go-to-Market strategy. Our network professionals have decades of experience ensuring secure, reliable infrastructures for our clients business needs yet we are continuously trying to improve and learn. We think of ourselves as a knowledge company and continuous learning is part of our DNA. Our guiding philosophy is that client success is our success! From sales, implementation to development of customized software, our team takes personal responsibility for creating a first-rate system for our client’s organization. Our mission is to increase client’s productivity and revenues through effective implementation and support of the computing solution that best suits their needs. We are unique in our ability to provide our clients a single point of responsibility and choices for their Network Infrastructure and applications software requirements. Our clients can choose having their network running on their premises which they can manage themselves or rely on Evron managed services. Alternatively, they can outsource their network to various Evron hosted services and SAAS alternatives.

can be provided on premises or as cloud SAAS delivery. We have deep expertise in the areas of Field Service, Intellectual Property and Royalty management, Distribution and Manufacturing. Evron is also committed to mobility with solutions to extend client access to their ERP vertical market solutions to any device, anytime, anywhere. We are one of the earliest members of the TechSelect community. Attending the conferences has always been a great time investment for us. Over the years we have developed some great relationships. The IT landscape is continuously evolving and changing and these twice-a-year conferences gives us the opportunity to sit with our peers to share ideas in an open, non-competitive way. We are able to bring any issues at the highest levels and align our strategies with vendor partners. It’s like a retreat for us - great locations, great venues and we get some time away from business to focus on the business. Ultimately TechSelect creates great value for our clients!

In addition, we can provide alternative ERP software solutions to match our client’s budget and requirements. These solutions

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March/April 2015

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March/April 2015

Recently Tech Data Canada’s management team participated in an offsite planning session including a team-building exercise benefitting two local charities. Following the annual planning session for the company’s entire management organization, the team enjoyed a fun-filled afternoon of team-building which had a charitable component as well. Teams of managers competed to answer skilltesting questions and raced to complete the assembly of brand new bicycles, which were then presented to representatives from the Toronto Children’s Breakfast Club and the Boys and Girls Club of Peel. The day provided a great reminder that team work is crucial to success, and that everyone needs a helping hand. The Children’s Breakfast Club is a non-profitable charitable organization that works to ensure that every child has access to a nutritious breakfast. An estimated 4,000 meals are served each week in the 20+ clubs across the Greater Toronto area. The Boys and Girls Club of Peel is a not-for-profit, charitable organization that engages at-risk children, youth and families from low-income communities. They provide a safe place for these individuals to participate in impactful, fun activities that support the development of confidence, learning and positive relationships. “Tech Data is proud to support both of these charitable organizations”, said Rick Reid, President, Tech Data Canada. “This event brought our entire management team together to discuss strategies and key initiatives for the upcoming year. Each member embraced the opportunity to give back to the community while learning to collaborate and work more efficiently as a team. As a result, I am confident that we are a stronger team capable of providing top quality service to our reseller partners, while also helping to care for the community around us.”

March/April 2015

“An estimated 4,000 meals are served each week in the 20+ clubs across the Greater Toronto area.”