The Soft Pitch

Heard helicopters this am hovering over our house, which means something bad is happening. Unfortunately a home was burning in my subdivsion. I’m so sorry for those folks.  After making sure everyone is ok I know I would be devasted if it happened to me…losing photos, memorabalia etc would be just terrible.  Same for businesses…storage has still been a business still growing for us in these tough times. Data is one of the most valuable assets of any organization, and companies have a vested interest in its protection and recoverability.

Avnet’s portfolio includes Citrix, EMC, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Microsystems and VMware. 

Tim FitzGerald, Virtualization & Consolidation Solutions group leader, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. “Last year we added Double-Take to our lineup and they offer an affordable solution for businesses protecting their data in physical and virtual environments. Avnet has all the pieces of the puzzle, so partners can create complete virtualization solutions that help their customers protect critical applications and information, minimize down time and manage data.”

Tim would be a good source to start with it.

The “big game” is over, the excitement in Phoenix is starting to settle and — despite the outcome — we here in Phoenix are so very proud of our Cardinals.  They even had me, the non-sports-loving side of this duo, cheering them on! My enthusiasm was a bit dampened, I have to say, though, as last week I had a colonoscopy. I’ve heard the latest health fad is “colon cleansing” where people actually do this, not to check for health problems, but to “clear them out” so to speak.  Well, it definitely does that, but Dave Barry describes the process oh so much better, so you can read his column yourself.  Suffice it to say – he’s absolutely right about every detail and I won’t be doing this again unless required by doctor’s orders.

Meanwhile, business has been rolling along.  Surprised you say?  I’m not.  In tough times our suppliers and customers are turning to us even more to ask how we can help them.  We’ve been moving over some customers from smaller, regional players because they now prefer working with a financially strong distributor they know will be there going forward.  We’re seeing increased interest in programs and services to help customers build their businesses. New suppliers, too, are reaching out to us as well – same thing: they want our financial strength and broad reach to help them drive success in challenging times.  While I was out, we announced several new supplier engagements:

Dot Hill extends Partnership with Avnet Technology Solutions EMEA

Avnet Technology Solutions appointed as First Pan European Value Added Distributor by I.R.I.S.

 Avnet Embedded extends Avalue franchise in Europe

EBV Elektronik Launches New Vertical Sales Segment to Promote RFID Technology

Interesting that last week, these all came from Europe.  But I know we’ve got things in the works for the Americas and Asia, too.  It’s all good.

The parting of the Red Sea…Moses or Charleston Heston could not have done better, when Larry Fitzgerald split the Steelers and ran 65 yards for a TD we wents nuts. But the Steelers did come back and win a Super Bowl for the ages. The Cardinals should have packed their bags and went home after Harris ran the 100 yard obstacle course with no time left in the 1st half to turn the game around. That one play cost them from winning a big upset…but still down they made a great comeback and won the respect and hearts of the country. Pittsburg u got away with one.

Congrats to the Bidwills, Coach Whiz, Warner, Fitz, team…great year. This town still still needs to learn how to pull together 100% and celebrate but we sure are getting better.

Still do not know who won FBR in overtime, but was not too concerned. 

Back to work

Today will be one for the ages…PHX will be buzzing…great weather here has made this event again the place to be…1/2 the people are watching golf…the other half watching the people. The sights are amazing…from the beautiful girls to the great stadium course layout especailly at hole 16. Attendance maybe down a bit but it’s still will be double any event in the US this year. If u do not have a good time here you aren’t trying.

I was asked by the AZ Business Journal why we are doing this in tough times…this event is vital to our success. Hundreds of customers and suppliers love coming here when the weather is a tad cold…we hold meetings, tours, and our leaders get to address the TS and EM crowds at dinner programs. We see an awful lot of folks which enhances our relationships and also saves us money from traveling to them. Emails and phone calls only do so much. Some of the folks will spend an afternoon at the event in our tent on the 18th hole. We average 300 plus everyday…on Weds during the proam…it’s employee day. So we hit all our folks: employees, customers, suppliers, community leaders, and shareholders. Here is the cherry on the sundae…some of our funds go to charity through the host Thunderbirds. So far so good….

Also COO Rick Hamada did an excellent job being interviewed on Back Spin the radio show today. We are their sponsor every year during FBR week.  When asked by host Corey LaRusso he picked Nitti to win? (being from Chicago all I can think of is Frank Nitti from gangland era)  I hope local boy Ted Purdy does.

FBR marketers were smart…if you wear a Cardinal jersey/hat etc you get for free today.

So what’s next for the redbirds…the Steelers are 6 1/2 point favorites…great D versus great O (I do not mean Oprah). Too bad more Az fans are not there…but who cares…I like Coach Whiz versus Tomlin. If the Cardinals could beat the SI jynx for two weeks what’s one more…Warner is quite a man…our 4 recievers are awesome…the Steelers win too much in bad weather aganist teams who hate bad weather ala San Diego. Maybe they should not be in Tampa either. In my opinion will win Cardinals 31-28.