WHAT LIES AHEAD
"It's been a great amount of fun. We've built $4 billion company. We've done it 50 percent through acquisitions, 50 percent through internal growth," Bell said. "On one hand, it seems like yesterday, and easy. On the other hand, it's a tougher biz today than ever before and it requires people to do far more and be far better than 20 years ago. I can only assume that will continue in the future. Consolidation is the name of the game. In this business, you need to be a buyer or a seller. We've been a buyer. We're optimistic that as competition gets fewer in number, that the survivors will be healthier. We know it will continue to be competitive.
"We once had the term 'Purchase Agents Man,' and I was telling somebody the other day, there are no more purchase agents now, just buyers. Customers have torn down the infrastructure they had. Everybody is under cost pressure. That will continue as we go forward to work on efficiencies. The key to survival is to be a specialist, to continue to add value and differentiate. That's really what makes Bell Micro successful."
