Synnex Top Exec Looks Ahead to 2010
Find out what new initiatives the distributor is planning for the near future.
By Michael Siggins
In a somewhat rare interview, Synnex Corp.’s Kevin Murai sat down with me to give his take on his first 18 months as CEO of the distribution giant, and what he sees ahead in 2010.
ChannelPro-SMB: It’s been a year and a half since you’ve taken the helm at Synnex. What has marked these past months for you and the company?
Murai: When I came on board, Synnex had been doing very well in the marketplace. Then the recession came. But probably the most amazing thing over the past three quarters is we have accelerated our market share growth through the recession.
We were certainly affected, but on a relative basis our growth was significantly better than the overall market. It’s something I’m very proud of, and proud of the team. Our people have an attitude of only knowing how to win; it’s a real can-do attitude. It doesn’t matter what challenges or hurdles you put in front of them; they will persevere and figure out how to get to the finish line. That’s really what this company is all about.
ChannelPro-SMB: Can you share the initiatives you’re teeing up for 2010?
Murai: There are four key themes to our strategy. The first is all-around services. Beyond doing a great job in the value-add of traditional distribution, we are introducing a number of services up and down the supply chain, many directed at our manufacturer partners, to help streamline and drive costs out of their supply chain.
Another theme is solutions. We will go narrow and deep and identify the top three to five verticals or technology platforms that we believe have good growth opportunity, where the solution really does make a difference in the marketplace. We are going to understand that market and make sure we have the right solutions-not just the hardware, but the software and services. And we will help our customers enter into new practice areas as well.
An example of that is in healthcare. We partnered with a number of manufacturers, but also with Allscripts [an electronic health records solution], which is a nontraditional software relationship for the channel. But they are best of breed in physician practice management, and our healthcare vertical solution is a key differentiator that others don’t have. An example of a technology solution platform would be what we are doing in digital signage.
The third area is entering markets we feel are underpenetrated, but still offer growth opportunities, such as enterprise, server, and storage.
And the final area is looking at what we call adjacent market opportunities. That would be data-capture point of sale, consumer electronics, and lifestyle products where we can leverage the technology base we already have, extending into a new market or leveraging the customer base we have and introducing new products and new product solutions. These are our key themes.
ChannelPro-SMB: Anything else you would add about 2010?
Murai: Of course, we will be rolling out a number of strategic initiatives, investing in people and other resources to really drive growth, heading forward in 2010.
There seems to be a real air of optimism [about the coming year]. First of all, people are happy to still be alive in the businesses they have, and they seem pumped up about new opportunities. I think that everybody sees the light at the end of the tunnel now, and we want to make sure that we are prepared to grow even faster as we come out of the recession.
