Avnet Australia wins IBM regional partner award

Avnet Partner Solutions has won IBM's Asia-Pacific partner award for excellence in 2003.

Andrew Baker, global business partners director for Australia and New Zealand, said Avnet had been key to Big Blue's growth in the mid-market in this region.

"Mid-market customers prefer to buy from business partners, not vendors," Baker said. "Avnet Partner Solutions saw tremendous growth in its IBM business in 2003, nearly doubling its revenue."

IBM said in a statement that Avnet Partner Solutions had stood out for its revenue contribution, competitive coverage, winback, leadership in e-business and "clothing" rates.

The company had delivered about 90 percent of year-on-year growth in revenue to IBM and recruited and trained new partners on IBM technologies, the company said.

Avnet had a "unique" value-added distribution model which had helped IBM gain market share, Baker said.

Colin McKenna, vice-president and country manager at Avnet Partner Solutions, said the award testified to the strength of Value Added Distribution as a business model.

Avnet Partner Solutions is a division of Avnet Technology Solutons, a US$9 billion global company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.