Tech Data Set To Unveil Services Network

Tech Data, Clearwater, Fla., will power TechSource via a strategic pact with Computerrepair.com and launch the network at its next TechSelect conference Nov. 8, said Thomas Ducatelli, senior vice president of U.S. sales at Tech Data. About 30 TechSelect members have been piloting the Computerrepair.com program, he said.

TechSource represents a markedly different approach than that taken by the Ingram Micro Services Network (IMSN), he added. The Computerrepair.com alliance gives TechSelect members an “open” member-owned platform aimed at driving services revenue for members rather than for Tech Data itself.

“We are facilitating the creation of a network to allow members to work together and exchange services. We don&t set prices or requirements around the use of the TechSource engine. This is absolutely not a profit center for Tech Data. It is designed to be a value-add for our customer base,” he said.

Tech Data declined to offer details on the Computerrepair.com pact. But TechSource members will be able to specify services deals with fellow members or the Computerrepair.com community. Tech Data also is negotiating with vendors to drive more services business to its partners, Ducatelli said.

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“This gives us a national presence to serve existing clients and new clients,” said Sam Ruggeri, president of Advanced Vision Technology Group, a Hauppauge, N.Y.-based TechSelect member. “We are looking at driving 30 [percent] to 60 percent service margins within the TechSource network.”

Third Eye Technologies, a TechSelect member in Valley Cottage, N.Y., has worked large services deals through fellow members, but it was time-consuming, said President Steve Alexander. “With Computerrepair.com, I&ll now be able to reach out with jobs to the TechSource community with a project, budget and time frame with all the documentation handled seamlessly by Computerrepair.com. I won&t have to reinvent the wheel for each project,” he said, adding that he likes the ability to set the services rate.

Under IMSN, Ingram, Santa Ana, Calif., sets hourly rates for specific services jobs and also has rigorous service levels and mandatory customer satisfaction ratings.

IMSN members argued that TechSource members will have trouble matching up to the standards IMSN has set.

Mike Novotny, president of Intertech Computer Products, Phoenix, said he receives $2.5 million in services revenue from IMSN and drives another $2 million worth of business through the network.

Justin Crotty, vice president of channel marketing at Ingram, said TechSource and Computerrepair.com represents a “co-marketing pact” with a lot of unknowns. “We cannot afford for that service call to go bad. Computerrepair.com is a tool with its pluses and minuses,” Crotty said. “Ingram Micro is a channel partner these guys go to war with every day.”