Sergey Nivens - Fotolia
Tech Data boss confident in future strategy
Sharing his view of the future with analysts after its Q4 results were issued the distributor's CEO believes the firm is in the right place to sell digital technology and services
Tech Data's leadership are confident that the distributor is in a strong position to take advantage of some of the emerging technology areas.
The firm spent its last fiscal year completing the integration of the Avnet Technology Solutions business and unifying its operations globally under a single brand.
It has also been putting the groundwork in to make sure it is well placed to surf the digital transformation wave.
Speaking to analysts after its Q4 results were announced, Bob Dutkowsky, CEO of Tech Data, said that it was "excited about the future".
"The IT market is in a constant state of transition. As workloads migrate across technology platforms, it is fueling growth in next generation technologies and delivery models such as the cloud, hyper-converged infrastructure, software-defined solutions, IoT, and analytics, security and the services that support the entire technology continuum," he said.
"The new Tech Data, with deep skills and domain knowledge and enhanced earnings power, is better positioned than ever to invest in these areas to capitalise on the opportunities they present and to help our customers navigate an increasingly complex technology landscape," he added.
The distributor's strategy is based around four key tenents: investing in next generation technologies and delivery models, strengthening its portfolio, transforming Tech Data digitally and optimising its global footprint.
He pointed to the cloud as one area where it had already proved the strategy worked and also referenced its activities in the flash storage market as evidence it was getting behind growth areas.
There was a note of caution with Tech Data warning that the market remains very competitive and the pressure to invest in skills was an ongoing challenge.
For the three months ended 31 January the firm reported a 49% increase year-on-year in net sales to $11.1bn. Europe made up $6.5bn, 58% of worldwide sales.
Gross profit of $616.9m was a 66% improvement on Q4 2016 and operating income was $151.9m.
