Avnet Technology Solutions Launches Networking Practice

With worldwide networking equipment and services revenue reaching an estimated $76.9 billion in 2009,¹ Avnet Technology Solutions, the solutions distribution leader and an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), announced today a new SolutionsPath™ practice to help value-added reseller partners in the U.S. and Canada successfully accelerate sales growth opportunities in the data center. Avnet’s NetworkPath™ provides partners with the services, tools, training and knowledge needed to build, grow and sustain a networking practice. Through NetworkPath, partners can deliver solutions that address their customers’ needs in application delivery, security, wired and wireless LAN switching, routing and network management that are based on the specific requirements of their customers’ data center, campus and/or remote branch environments.

"The data center presents tremendous opportunity for resellers that understand how to create integrated solutions involving multiple suppliers and technology areas, such as networking, storage, security and virtualization,” said Domenic Gianfrancesco, director of network solutions, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. "Avnet’s NetworkPath is a natural addition to our existing SolutionsPath technology practices. We developed the practice to help our partners broaden their expertise, while providing them with additional skills and tools needed to address their customers’ evolving requirements for solutions spanning the entire data center.”

NetworkPath enables Avnet partners to quickly gain and expand on their industry-specific expertise through a variety of tools and resources including:

• NetworkPath™ University: a comprehensive training curriculum that combines real-world knowledge of high-growth networking opportunities to provide partners with the critical skills and services needed to develop a robust networking practice and accelerate sales growth.
• NetworkPath™ Assessment Services: enables partners to identify new sales opportunities by offering in-depth networking analysis in areas such as network optimization, network readiness, converged networks, consolidated networks, network security and wireless LAN (WLAN) networks.
• SolutionsPath™ Playbooks: online sales toolkits focused on end-customer business challenges, helping partners prepare for sales calls, determine what types of solutions address their customers’ needs and generate leads to build their sales pipeline.

"Avnet does the homework for us by identifying the markets with the greatest potential for our business model. They have the resources that help us minimize investment costs and risks associated with specialization,” said Bill Calderwood, president, The Root Group. "Avnet’s NetworkPath provides us with a way to quickly segment the networking solution needs of our target customer base, and zero in on those that are a good fit for our capabilities. We know that the practice will help us with the industry knowledge that allows us to develop and deliver cross-supplier networking solutions to our customers. The end result is that we can improve efficiencies, mitigate risks and support business agility.”

Partners can leverage NetworkPath in conjunction with other Avnet technology and vertical market practices to further hone their skills and expand their data center expertise. Additional information on Avnet’s complementary solutions-focused practices, including SecurePath™, StoragePath™, VirtualPath™, GovPath™ and HealthPath™, can be found at http://www.ats.avnet.com/solutions/.

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About Avnet Technology Solutions

As a global solutions distributor, Avnet Technology Solutions collaborates with its customers and suppliers to create and deliver effective solutions that address the business challenges of their end-user customers locally and around the world. For fiscal year 2009, the group served customers in more than 30 countries and generated US $7.04 billion in annual revenue. Avnet Technology Solutions (www.ats.avnet.com) is an operating group of Avnet, Inc.

Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), a Fortune 500 company, is one of the largest distributors of electronic components, computer products and embedded technology in the world. Avnet accelerates its partners’ success by connecting the world’s leading technology suppliers with a broad base of more than 100,000 customers and providing cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For the fiscal year ended June 27, 2009, Avnet generated revenue of $16.23 billion. For more information, visit www.avnet.com.

¹ Source: Avnet estimate based on Gartner and IDC data.