Avnet Technology Solutions Introduces End-to-End SolutionsPath Engagement Service for the U.S. and Canada

Avnet Technology Solutions, the global IT solutions distribution leader and an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), today announced a strategic consulting service for solution provider partners in the U.S. and Canada – Avnet’s SolutionsPath^® Engagement Service. Based on Avnet’s proven SolutionsPath® methodology, this new service provides a comprehensive end-to-end business growth model for Avnet’s partners. By engaging with Avnet for this service, partners will evolve from accessing Avnet’s resources in an à la carte manner to creating a complete business plan with measurable goals and mutual accountability. Avnet and its partners will develop profitable growth plans for designing, selling and delivering data center solutions in high-growth vertical markets such as banking, energy, government, healthcare and retail. Participating partners will also increase the depth of their industry expertise and breadth of data center solutions competencies.

“Industry research clearly indicates that CIOs and IT executives strongly prefer to work with solution providers that understand their specific industries and business challenges,” said Gavin Miller, vice president of Solutions Marketing and Development, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. “Avnet’s success with our SolutionsPath methodology has proven that by developing expertise in high-growth vertical markets, our partners can grow their businesses at a faster rate than the industry average. We have now created a complete engagement model that leverages Avnet’s multi-million dollar annual investment in consultants, business intelligence tools, planning services and resources into a long-term growth process for our partners. The SolutionsPath Engagement Service aligns market-specific research, planning, training and enablement, and professional services with measurable goals and mutually agreed-upon outcomes to bring even greater success to our partners.”

Avnet’s SolutionsPath Engagement Service is powered by a team of industry and data center experts who use a proven multi-phased approach to accelerate growth planning and execution. This approach includes business analysis, strategic planning, training and enablement, demand creation, and professional services. At every phase of this approach, Avnet draws upon its investment in business analytics and data intelligence resources to create a holistic view of the partners’ target customers and create effective strategies that partners can use to capture net new growth.

"Our collaboration with Avnet's HealthPath^® and EnergyPath^™ practices during the past four months has helped us align our capabilities around transformation, analytics and mobility—with the priorities focused predominantly in the health and energy industry verticals,” said Christian Franklin, managing partner at TamGroup, a solutions provider and Avnet partner. “We've been impressed with the support and leverage the Avnet team has provided, and we’re seeing measurable results."

"Avnet’s SolutionsPath^® Engagement Service complements our service delivery and consulting team's capabilities—particularly when there are domain expertise or resource gaps,” Franklin added. “This allows us to focus on providing superior execution around our core capabilities and filling out the edges with a trusted partner. In the end, the partnership affords us leverage in our demand generation and delivery efforts resulting in a greater volume of engagements across our solution portfolio."

Current Avnet partners can request a personalized briefing about the SolutionsPath Engagement Service by contacting their Avnet account manager.

Meet with Avnet’s energy IT solutions experts and Avnet partners specializing in energy and utilities—including TamGroup—in booth #4221 at DistribuTECH 2012, the leading annual Smart Grid event, January 24-26, 2012, in San Antonio, Texas.

Follow Avnet Technology Solutions, North America, on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AvnetAdvantage.

About Avnet Technology Solutions

As a global IT solutions distributor, Avnet Technology Solutions collaborates with its customers and suppliers to create and deliver services, software and hardware solutions that address the business needs of their end-user customers locally and around the world. For fiscal year 2011, the group served customers in more than 70 countries and generated US $11.5 billion in annual revenue. Avnet Technology Solutions (www.ats.avnet.com) is an operating group of Avnet, Inc.

About Avnet

Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), a Fortune 500 company, is one of the largest distributors of electronic components, computer products and embedded technology serving customers in more than 70 countries worldwide. Avnet accelerates its partners' success by connecting the world's leading technology suppliers with a broad base of more than 100,000 customers by providing cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For the fiscal year ended July 2, 2011, Avnet generated revenue of $26.5 billion. For more information, visit www.avnet.com.