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Westcon Group joins distribution alliance

Westcon Group is hoping to build closer ties with emerging vendors and get even closer to its resellers after joining the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC). The networking distributor was unveiled as the GTDC’s 13th member at the lobby group’s annual summit in San Francisco last week. Existing members include global broadliner distributors Ingram Micro and Tech Data, and European champions Magirus, Scribona and Actebis.

Guy Koster, VP at Westcon’s European Technology Solutions Group, sees the wholesaler’s membership as a route into new vendors and an important source of customer feedback. ‘I think this will have two benefits,’ he says. ‘It’s a point of escalation for vendors trying to enter the European market. But it also enables us to get closer to customers, as we’ll get feedback from their customer surveys and data.’

More specifically, Koster believes the alliance can act as a springboard into emerging technology areas. ‘We’re seeing a lot of activity in the video and physical security space,’ he says. ‘Because it’s moving into the IP domain, this plays into our hands. The alliance can act as a rallying point for new vendors.’

Speaking to IT Europa following the Westcon signing, the GTDC’s CEO Tim Curran says the group is on the cusp of snaring several more top European names and establishing a direct presence. ‘Growing our European base is very important so that we can put the ‘G’ in the GTDC,’ reasons Curran. ‘I can tell you we’re in the process of hiring a staff in Europe and over next the next six to eight months we will expand our European membership.’ Curran also hopes that a ‘sales-out database’, currently only available in the US, will be up and running in Europe by mid-2007. That will give local members unique insight into market trends, he argues.

Westcon Group, which draws around 40pc of its $2.3bn (€1.8bn) annual sales from Europe, comes as a substantial scalp for the GTDC. Curran admits the two parties had been in talks for ‘several years’, and cites the group’s growing European clout as a key factor behind the distributor’s decision to finally come on board. ‘We’ve been very active in building a European presence in the last three years,’ he explains.

A key battlefront this last year has been coordinating the channel’s response to new European regulation on the disposal of IT products and the Restriction of Hazardous Substances initiative. ‘Our two goals are to remain compliant and minimise costs,’ comments Curran, who says that the GTDC has organised several European events in the last 18 months to ensure its members understand the implications of the legislation.

Referring to the new WEEE legislation on the disposal of IT products, Koster concedes: ‘The legislation has a cost associated with it, and it’s not good for us or our resellers as we’ll have to pass the costs onto customers. Being part of the group increases the lobby power of distribution in general terms concerning how to respond to the legislation.'

The GTDC’s other US-based members are Arrow, Avnet, Bell, Access Distribution, Synnex and Agilisys, and Curran is keen to see a similar diversity of representatives on this side of the pond. ‘Three or four European distributors have indicated they want to join,’ he adds. Potential candidates must achieve sales of more than $500m (€395m) in order to gain a place at the table.