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Executive Address Happy New Year
Tech Data Canada’s Annual Vendor Summit
Recognizing our Vendor Partners
Tech Data Julia Conn Watt Scholarship Winner
Congratulations to our most recent award recipient
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Becoming a Cloud Practitioner A new way to think about sales
Specialist Spotlight Introducing Tarek Kerdasi, Product Sales Champion, Intel Security
TechSelect Member Profile We catch up with Algo Communication Products Ltd.
Tech Data employees play Santa Providing 26 families in the Peel Region with a happy holiday!
Editor Jillian Cahill Art Direction and Design Julie MacAulay Contributing Writers and Editors Irene Buchan, Jillian Cahill, Mary Bonnici, Laura Stewart 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. Comments, suggestions? Tell us what you think! jillian.cahill@techdata.ca
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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
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ExecutiveAddress
Happy New Year! Time goes by so quickly. It doesn’t seem like that long ago that we were all focused on Y2K and here we are, we’ve entered 2015! I wish I had a crystal ball to be able to see what the year ahead will bring. Tech Data Canada’s fiscal year begins February 1, 2015 and I’m confident that we will see several new and exciting opportunities for everyone in the Canadian IT channel this year. There are sure to be some bumps along the way, but we’ll do our best as we always do, to overcome them and achieve mutual success. Tech Data Canada has made several investments and enhancements in how we do business with all of our reseller and vendor partners every day. We’ve grown stronger and more capable than ever to provide you with the service and support you require. Our new business units focused on Mobility, Retail and Cloud, provide you with several resources you need to help you be successful. We’ll help you discover how to sell these solutions and gain a competitive edge. Our team will offer the most comprehensive endto-end solutions in the IT channel and guide you to maximize your growth potential. We will be kicking off our annual Business Builder Tour once again in April and with that, we bring you more of what you have been asking for. We’ll have strategic sessions focused on Mobility and Cloud to help you gain the knowledge you require to be more competitive in these markets. We are also giving you even more time to spend with our participating vendor partners. After all, they have all travelled across the country to see you and we aim to ensure that you have the time you need to interact and build relationships with them to discuss opportunities and strategies for your business.
Canada to help you accelerate your business. We’ll assist with event management, web design, creative services and lead generation. You can contact the team at resellerconnect@techdata.ca today to learn more about this exciting opportunity. As the year progresses, I’ll be making my way out to several of our events to make sure I get the opportunity to see as many of our valued reseller partners as I can because your business is important to me. We strive to overachieve on all that we do and are always looking for your feedback as well. If you have a suggestion or comment you’d like to provide me with, I’d love to hear from you. Please send me an email at rick.reid@techdata.ca. Best wishes for a prosperous 2015! Sincerely,
Rick Reid President, Tech Data Canada
If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to learn more about our resellerCONNECT initiative, then now is the time. We have a team of highly experienced marketing professionals in
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Recognizing Our Vendor Partners Tech Data Canada announced the winners of our Vendor Partner Awards at our annual Vendor Summit on December 10, 2014. Each year we recognize select vendor partners for their significant contributions and ongoing support to the continued success of Tech Data Canada and our reseller partners. Close to 100 channel partners joined us for an exciting afternoon at Terrace on the Green in Brampton, Ontario to focus on our value added services and channel engagement. Thank you to all our vendor partners.
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The 2014 Tech Data Vendor Partner Award winners are: •
Business Partner Account Manager of the Year – Jason Laxamana, Lenovo
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Difference Maker Business Partner - HP
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Best SMB Focused Business Partner - VMWare
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Sales and Marketing Innovator - Brocade
Brocade, Sales and Marketing Innovator
HP, Difference Maker Business Partner
Jason Laxamana, Lenovo - Business Partner Account Manager of the Year
VMWare - Best SMB Focused Business Partner
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Congratulations to Tech Data Canada’s Most Recent Julia Conn Watt Scholarship Winner
Tech Data Canada is proud to offer a memorial scholarship award to honour our former president, Julia Conn Watt, in recognition of her outstanding leadership, service and contributions to our organization. The Julia Conn Watt Scholarship Award provides $2,000 toward education costs to one successful candidate. Applicants are all children of one of our full-time employees and must demonstrate leadership in community, social or extra-curricular activities. At the same time, the candidate should have a consistent academic record with high achievement over several years. Tech Data is happy to announce our most recent Julia Conn Watt Scholarship winner, Brieanne, who is the daughter of one of our Managers in Product Marketing. Brieanne is an involved community supporter, volunteering over 300 hours throughout her high school career with organizations like Extendicare retirement homes, Big Brothers & Sisters of Halton, Halton Hills Summer Camps and the Glen Eden Snow School. She is also an avid skier, certified to teach all ages and most abilities to ski. Brieanne is now attending Queen’s University, in the Engineering Program with the goal of making a unique difference and valuable contribution to society through a successful and meaningful career. Congratulations Brieanne on your recognition and good luck with your future endeavours!
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Type the word “practitioner” into your Google search engine, and you’ll come up with the following definition: A person actively engaged in an art, discipline or profession. Merriam-Webster takes it one step further describing this person as one “who regularly does an activity that requires skill or practice.” Most of us associate the term practitioner exclusively with medical professionals. Perhaps it’s because we’re creatures of habit—or maybe we just don’t see ourselves as more than the title behind our name. Be it “sales representative,” “solutions consultant” or even “cloud specialist,” our title can sometimes define us, or at least attempt to. But what if you flipped the sales paradigm to reveal a different angle—to consider yourself more of an artful, skilled, outcome-driven practitioner of the cloud? During a recent cloud solutions presentation, Carlos Nouche, vice president of Visualize, a company focused on providing a value-focused sales framework, used a compelling metaphor that struck a chord. He likened the methodology of medical diagnosis to that of sales. “What if your doctor approached your health concerns like a typical sales person would?” he asked. “What if he said, ‘So your knee’s hurting you? Fantastic. I’m doing a great job with knees these days. I’ve got a 98% approval rate and, by the way, if you buy before the end of the quarter, I’ll give you twenty percent off. What do you say?” If you’re feeling uncomfortable with the scenario, you’re not alone. But why would this set most of us on edge? Doctors are experts, right? They know what they’re doing; they’ve studied. Why not trust them to have all the answers? It may seem obvious that a doctor can’t possibly know how to diagnose a problem and suggest a solution without asking questions, right? Not so with sales—but it should be. A good doctor will start by asking questions in order to diagnose your problem. They’ll want to hear about your lifestyle and history, as much as understand your recent challenges and pain points. A good doctor will probably have done some homework if they know you’re coming in for a visit. What if we approached selling cloud services this way? Could it help us break down barriers and build relationships? Absolutely. Here are some simple ways to get started.
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Assess the Opportunity You might be the foremost expert on cloud solutions in your area, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to instinctively know the right outcome for any given customer. Prospects may expect—or at least hope—that you can give them a quick and easy answer, but don’t get caught in this trap. “Take the time to ask the right questions,” Nouche says. “If the customer doesn’t allow you to go through this process—to get to know them—then recognize that you don’t have a qualified deal.” Plus, asking the right questions will differentiate you as a qualified consultant, build trust and help you discern the right outcome for your customer. “Lack of differentiation very seldom indicates poor product functionality or service limitations,” Nouche explains. “It usually means we failed to find out what was important about our
unique capabilities in relation to the customer’s business.” Create a Sense of Urgency Don’t try to diagnose everything at one time. Instead, think like a practitioner—look for the biggest pain points and find the urgency. Sell them the “must have” not the “nice to have” because that is what will cause them to make a change. “Whatever it is, you have to find it in order to understand how to sell them a solution,” Nouche says. “Know your client, find the sense of urgency and then differentiate yourself.” Differentiate with Service The market is shifting toward service: consulting, selecting, deployment, optimization, education, support and management. You—and your sales staff—need to embrace and understand how to sell and manage these services because that’s where the big opportunity is.
“You can assess and recommend, even outsource the IT,” Nouche explains. “There are all sorts of options. This is the way that you can compete with your bigger competitors.” Margins in product are small. Not so with service. Leverage service offerings as a part of your outcome package. It’s a value-add and a differentiator. Become the Trusted Advisor Remember that building trust starts before you ever make contact with the customer. Think like a practitioner. Research, assess, diagnose and prove that you are interested in providing the right outcome to meet their needs. You won’t just be selling something, you’ll be selling the right thing for their company—including the service they need to leverage cloud solutions.
Specialist Spotlight In this issue of Tech Times, we introduce you to Tarek Kerdasi, Product Sales Champion, Intel Security (formerly McAfee), to learn how he can help you accelerate your business in a rapidly growing security market.As Tech Data continues to redefine Value Added Distribution, our Product Sales Champions are here to help. In what is the first feature in an ongoing series focusing on Tech Data’s team of sales specialists, this month we introduce you to Tarek Kerdasi, our Product Sales Champion for Intel Security. Tarek is excited about taking on this role which is relatively new to him. In his previous role at Tech Data, Tarek was our McAfee Product Manager, supporting our relationship and transactional business and helping Tech Data to become the leading McAfee distributor in Canada, in large part through excellent execution of McAfee’s licensing program. The security market is growing rapidly and with new advanced threats come new opportunities. Whether you cater to enterprise accounts or SMB customers, Tarek can help you find the right solutions to secure your customers’ environments. Through consultation with Tarek, you can efficiently manage your Intel Security renewals business and leverage Intel Security programs to enhance your sales margins. Tarek is also available to provide training on new products and programs, and to help you realize the full potential of Intel Security’s comprehensive range of enablement and profitability programs. Tarek Kerdasi, Product Sales Champion – Intel Security Office: 905-286-6800 x 22118 Cell: 647-588-9489 Email: tarek.kerdasi@techdata.ca
TechSelect Member Profile
In this issue of Tech Times, we catch up with Algo Communication Products Ltd. to hear how TechSelect membership has helped them build valuable working relationships within the vendor community.
Algo Communication Products Ltd. was founded in 1968 as a Distributor serving the Canadian Telephone Companies and Utilities. Algo entered the “Interconnect” market in 1981 when the CRTC opened up the business telephone system market to competition in BC. The Distribution side of the business was replaced by an Engineering and Manufacturing Group. The focus is on SIP endpoints for alerting, paging and Intercom. The solutions are offered globally via Distributors. The VAR group provides Unified Communication Solutions to SMBs primarily in Greater Vancouver. We enhance business through the design and support of technology. Q: What are your thoughts on the industry in general? The Industry is facing rapid change which is creating many opportunities as well as challenges. We are continually being pushed to move beyond our traditional comfort zones. We are finding that mobility is a key capability that is motivating business to consider upgrading their infrastructure. Unified Communications on a PDA is becoming mainstream and much easier to justify investments in video. Q: What challenges are you facing and how do you overcome them? The biggest challenge that we face
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is staying current with emerging technologies as well as maintaining the plethora of required manufacturer certifications. The cost of training is significant particularly in BC as courses are typically offered mostly in Toronto or possibly Calgary. Technicians are now specialists in a few segments of the product portfolios. Q: What would you like to see from vendor partners? We would like to see vendor partners remove as many barriers to productivity as possible. Keep things simple. This would apply to all programs offered, deal registration, MDF, rebates, etc. Vendors should appreciate that we do not find their tools as easy to use as they do, most of us have many vendors and some vendors have many tools. Q: What are your organization’s goals for the next five years? Our five year goal is to transform our revenue mix to significantly increase the recurring revenue segment. We will continue to focus on our capabilities to enhance and expand the solution
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breadth for our customers, as well as strive to continually monitor and enhance our customers’ experience. Q: How has the TechSelect program helped you? Or helped you meet your organization’s goals? We joined TechSelect to help us migrate from a voice centric background to converged infrastructure. We have benefited from the knowledge shared amongst the members as well as from the access to the vendor community. This assisted us greatly in establishing relationships that would have otherwise been difficult. Q: What is your outlook for 2015? We are optimistic about 2015. We believe the competitive nature of the market will continue to increase. Hosted services will gain more traction as will SIP trunking. We have seen many waves of increased competition in years past. We always respond by maintaining the quality of the products and services offered, by being agile and focusing on our customers’ needs.
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Tech Data employees played Santa this holiday season!
This past December Tech Data’s halls on Creditview Road were decked with extra holiday cheer. Employees from all departments came together to ensure children living with abuse, neglect and poverty had a chance at a very happy holiday. Tech Data is a proud supporter of the Peel Children’s Aid Foundation’s Holiday Wishes Program. Every year, employees generously sponsor children and families by providing toys, books, clothing, gift cards and items from the holiday wish list of families in need. This year Tech Data gave 26 families wonderful holiday memories! “We appreciate Tech Data’s incredibly generous colleagues”, says Janet Gilbert, Foundation Assistant at the Peel Children’s Aid Foundation. “Our toy room was abuzz with excited comments of, “We have a donor who has sponsored 26 FAMILIES!” A big thank you to all those that participated! Tech Data looks forward to topping our number next year and helping even more families.
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