SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 9, 2023 / Global technology and distribution leaders gathered this week for the 21st GTDC Summit North America. Hosted by the Global Technology Distribution Council, the world's largest consortium of technology distributors, the 2023 conference signified a return to live events and the biggest gathering of high-level industry leaders to date, with a wide array of presentations, panel discussions and networking opportunities.
"Over the last three years, the IT industry has reached new heights in sales and the value created for the business and end-user communities," said Frank Vitagliano, CEO of the GTDC. "Distributors are empowering channel vendors and partners with more technology, service and support capabilities than ever before. GTDC members are also collaborating on new and ongoing economic and environmental sustainability initiatives to help better the industry for future generations."
In the opening session, Vitagliano emphasized the reliance on the industry and the increasing value of the channel, highlighting North American distribution's revenue increases over the past five years, from $70 billion to more than $85 billion. Based on data from IDC's North America Distribution Tracker, powered by the GTDC, those numbers include 13% growth since 2020 − despite the economic and supply chain concerns associated with the pandemic. This contradiction can best be described as distribution's "value through multiplication" effect.
"As the IT industry turns more attention to software licensing, cloud service subscriptions, and professional services and support, distributors are boosting partner engagement models and scaling vendors' sales capacities," said Vitagliano.
He also introduced significant findings from the new Distribution Economic Impact Guide by the GTDC and Channelnomics to demonstrate that rising but shifting value proposition. The report highlights areas where distributors defray channel enablement and management costs. With valuable sales and marketing metrics and a process to help vendors calculate their return on investment for partnering with distributors, this invaluable resource is now available to download at no cost.
Highlights from San Diego
Several topics of discussion at the 2023 GTDC Summit North America highlighted areas of opportunity for the IT industry and channel, from workplace trends and cybersecurity concerns to new cloud consumption models. Those sessions included:
- An open panel discussion with global distribution CEOs Paul Bay (Ingram Micro), Rich Hume (TD SYNNEX), Sean Kerins (Arrow Electronics) and Dan Schwab (D&H Distributing).
- Renowned economic and fiscal policy expert Douglas Holt-Eakin discussed the effect of government policy changes and strategies for mitigating risk in different industries, including IT.
- IDC president Crawford Del Prete shared his predictions on future IT demand and what the channel can expect with the next wave of innovation.
- Dave O'Callaghan, Managing Partner of Vation Ventures, moderated a panel of CIOs discussing the challenges of operating in today's high-tech business environment.
- ESG initiatives took center stage as a panel of industry executives shared their unique insight and expertise on global environmental sustainability initiatives.
Save the date for the 2023 GTDC Summit EMEA, June 13-14, at the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk. More details for this event will be available soon.
About the GTDC
The Global Technology Distribution Council is the industry consortium representing the world's leading tech distributors. GTDC members drive an estimated $150 billion in annual worldwide sales of products, services and solutions through diverse business channels. GTDC conferences support the development and expansion of strategic supply-chain partnerships that continually address the fast-changing marketplace needs of vendors, end customers and distributors. GTDC members include AB S.A. (WSE: ABPL), Almo Corporation, Arrow Electronics (NYSE: ARW), CMS Distribution, Computer Gross Italia (MI: SES), D&H Distributing, ELKO, Esprinet (PRT.MI), Exclusive Networks (EPA: EXN), Exertis, Infinigate, Ingram Micro, Intcomex, Logicom (CSE:LOG), Siewert & Kau, SiS Technologies (HKSE: 0529), Tarsus, TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX), TIM AG and Westcon-Comstor.
GTDC MEDIA CONTACT:
Brian Sherman
(814) 882-4432
[email protected]
SOURCE: Global Technology Distribution Council