Cadec Leverages New Symbol, Avnet Applied Channel Program

"The 'big O' was in front of me, and that 'O' was opportunity," said Joanne Allen, marketing director of Cadec, a Londonderry, N.H.-based solution provider who experienced the revelation earlier this month during a presentation about the new channel program formed by Symbol Technologies, a developer of wireless POS and data-capturing products, and Avnet Applied Computing, the white-box and OEM supply division of distributor Avnet Inc.

Several aspects of the new program appeal to solution providers such as Allen. Although Avnet Applied Computing has sold Symbol products for several years, the two companies never formalized a channel program. The new program, AccessPlus, available exclusively through Avnet Applied Computing, will improve inventory and delivery of Symbol products; offer financing; increase marketing funds and technical and sales support; generate leads; drive compatible product bundles; and help avoid channel conflict, said solution providers and executives of both companies.

"The program provides a complete product and service flow from the front end to the back end," said Ed Kamins, president of Avnet Applied Computing. "We saw what Symbol had to offer, and we knew we weren't taking advantage of Avnet's $9 billion in resources to help our customers drive full point-of-sale solutions into the market. This was much too big of an opportunity to let it just trickle along."

Through the program, Avnet Applied Computing will promote its full line of CPUs, flat-panel displays, motherboards, memory modules, networking and wireless products, and customized form factors to help draw Symbol's direct solution providers into a two-tier distribution engagement, Kamins said.

Mike Munzer, Symbol's senior director of distribution sales and business development, agreed, saying that Symbol needs two-tier distributors and relationships with solution providers serving the broader IT markets to further drive its business.

"AccessPlus isn't so much a program as it is a way to go to market," Munzer said. "AccessPlus boils down to the power of three: the power of Avnet, Symbol and the solution providers. The solution providers are the glue. There's a lot of opportunity for us through the introduction of wireless and mobility into the markets they're serving. This gives us access into the more IT-centric solution provider space."

The new relationship, Allen said, will help improve margins for Cadec. In the past, managing a direct relationship with Symbol had eaten up most of the products' margins, she said. With Avnet Applied Computing managing the billing and shipping, Cadec can focus on creating solutions, Allen said. Services from Avnet Applied Computing such as just-in-time delivery and warehousing, online product information, white papers and configuration tools also will help Cadec create and deliver products quickly and efficiently, she said.

"The synergy is excellent," she said. "The message of the two companies was that they are going to maximize their core competencies by helping me."

Steve Hall, vice president of business development and strategic alliances at Peak Technologies, a Columbia, Md.-based reseller of automated identification and data collection solutions, also sat through the program presentation and liked what he heard. Avnet's multiple warehouse locations in North America and Europe will give Peak greater access to Symbol and other products for quicker customer delivery, he said.

"This opens our eyes to the other products that Avnet carries," Hall said. "We used to have to buy our products from different places. Now we'll have a more complete shopping cart. Avnet has the services that will allow our installations to go more smoothly."