PHOENIX — Jan. 20, 2005 — IBM today announced that Avnet, Inc., one of the world’s leading distributors of electronic components and enterprise network and computing equipment, has deployed more than 8,000 ThinkPad notebooks and ThinkCentre desktops across the enterprise to improve employee productivity and access to information, shorten sales cycles and lower total cost of ownership.
In today’s on-demand business environment, information is the key to creating growth opportunities and implementing efficient processes. Utilizing mobile capabilities supported through IBM ThinkPad notebooks, Avnet employees in departments such as sales, IT and strategic planning can obtain and share information quickly, helping to provide superior customer support, minimize costs and increase sales. IBM ThinkCentre desktops offer the functionality and processing power to support business-critical operations in areas such as human resources, accounting and engineering.
“IBM Think-based technologies and services play a critical role throughout our entire company, in virtually every department, helping speed customer-response time and increase our competitive edge,” said Ed Kamins, CIO and head of Operational Excellence at Avnet. “The level of innovation, reliability and support we receive from IBM is without comparison. We feel the recent deal between IBM and Lenovo is a brilliant move for the two companies and look forward to an even more competitive product line in the future.”
Recently signing on to IBM’s Warranty Self-Maintainer Program, Avnet looks to take additional costs out of its business and create revenue opportunities by training and certifying its own IT professionals. With this program, Avnet will use existing resources to provide technical support and hardware repair, resulting in reduced downtime, increased productivity and flexibility, and decreased costs.
Future initiatives may include the deployment of ThinkVantage Technologies that help make personal computers easier to deploy, connect, protect and support.
About Avnet, Inc. Avnet, Inc. enables success from the center of the technology industry, providing cost-effective services and solutions vital to a broad base of more than 100,000 customers and 300 suppliers. The company markets, distributes and adds value to a wide variety of electronic components, enterprise computer products and embedded subsystems. Through its premier market position, Avnet brings a breadth and depth of capabilities that help its trading partners accelerate growth and realize cost efficiencies. Avnet generated more than $10 billion in revenue in fiscal 2004 (year ended July 3, 2004) through sales in 68 countries. Visit www.avnet.com . About IBM ThinkPad IBM ThinkPad notebook PCs have won more than 1,000 industry awards. Soon to join the Lenovo Group, IBM ThinkPad notebook and ThinkCentre desktop personal computers utilizing IBM ThinkVantage Technologies are available through a combined worldwide distribution and sales network spanning 160 countries. For more information, see www.ibm.com/thinkpad
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