An American Hero

One of the things that people sometimes forget about solution providers is that they are perennial entrepreneurs. That is one of the powerful lessons to be learned from the first solution provider to be inducted into CRN’s Industry Hall of Fame, Frank Mogavero, founder of Data Systems Worldwide.

STEVEN BURKE Can be reached at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at sburke@cmp.com.

Mogavero compares being a solution provider to being a broken field runner constantly trying to stay ahead of the technology curve. “You’ve always got to change,” he says. “That is what kept us going. But it always cost us money. That is what the vendors and distributors have to understand.”

Mogavero emphasizes that without the solution provider making the sale and delivering value to clients of all sizes, there would be no vendors or distributors. One of the problems Data Systems Worldwide has always grappled with is fair-weather channel partners. Mogavero stresses that a channel program should not be for just a day, a month or even three months. It should be a commitment for three, five or even 10 years.

“Vendors and distributors have got to learn that they have to work with our people,” he says. “That cooperation is very important today and in the future. All of us need to work together if we are going to make this industry what it should be and what it can be.”

Congratulations to Mogavero, his family and the entire Data Systems Worldwide team. Here’s to a perennial entrepreneur and a true American hero, one of the many unsung solution provider capitalists that have made this industry and this country great.

Are you a perennial entrepreneur? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at sburke@cmp.com.

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