Tech Data Ready For Hurricane Isabel

Although the storm path is likely to pass Tech Data's headquarters, the distributor plans to increase its services to help solution providers that may be affected by Isabel.

Tech Data is extending its business hours to 8 p.m. for telephone sales, credit and customer service for the next couple of days until the storm passes, said Pete Peterson, vice president of sales for East and government sales division.

"We hope and pray that the storm is not as severe as projected and there is no damage to any of our customers, but we have to be ready," Peterson said. "We sent out a communique to customers from South Carolina all the way up to New York and New Jersey. We've also worked with our carriers to ensure that any product that needs to get expedited can get to where it needs to go."

Other distributors including Ingram Micro said they also were preparing to help solution providers that may be affected by the storm, although plan specifics were not immediately available.

Tech Data executives met Wednesday morning to discuss possible consequences of Isabel, a meeting borne out of its disaster preparedness strategy that was developed after the Sept. 11 tragedies, Peterson said.

"That gave us an awareness on campus that if something catastrophic could happen, we had to be ready. We're in the middle of a hurricane zone here. We have contingency plans to divert orders in the United States. and knowing that we live through this quite a bit from June to October, as soon as we saw [Isabel] tracking to the East Coast, we immediately brought the team together," Peterson said.

In addition to products needed as a result of the storm, Peterson said solution providers can hold orders that are pending until they have recovered from the storm.

"The inventory is allocated to them so there is no fear that they will lose it as a result of the storm," he said.

Tech Data has about 5,000 solution provider customers on the Eastern Seaboard, Peterson said.