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Ingram Micro’s Kirk Robinson On Tech Data-Synnex Merger: ‘Game On’
Joseph F. Kovar
‘We think we’re well-positioned. And we’re going to continue to deliver in the second half of the year. The pipeline that we’re hearing from our partners, even though there’s a global supply chain issue, there’s still so much opportunity,’ Kirk Robinson, Ingram Micro’s chief country executive for the U.S., tells CRN.
Your role also covers the U.S. federal and SLED business. Does the fact that Platinum is based in the U.S impact the way you approach the public sector business?
Well, we hired a gentleman, Tony Celeste [public sector executive director and general manager], about a year and a half ago. Tony lives in the Beltway. He’s been in the public sector business 40 years. He has top security clearance. We brought him on to look at our strategy and how we can work with our partners even more deeply in all the areas that we just talked about. So we’re just excited right now to be owned by a U.S. company and continue to execute against that.
And, I would say our public sector business has been one of our growth business units for the past several years. So we’re expecting to see that continue to grow.
Do you see any potential for increased competition from the upcoming merger between Synnex and Tech Data?
I would just say I have a lot of respect for all of our competitors. I’ve been doing this a long time. I know a lot of the players. So I think it‘s a good move for them from a global standpoint. It certainly gives them a broader footprint.
From the U.S. standpoint, which is what I’m responsible for, I think there’s a lot of overlap [between Synnex and Tech Data], and they’re going to be focused behind closed doors looking at how they’re going to come together. So we’re looking to make sure we’re there to partner with our customers and deliver the experience that we feel only we can deliver. And just continue to focus on that customer experience.
