Tepedino Named President Of Avnet Hall-Mark North America

Avnet Hall-Mark North America

Tepedino currently serves as executive vice president at the Phoenix-based distributor. He replaces Rick Hamada, who was promoted to president of Avnet Computer Marketing, the unit in which Avnet Hall-Mark resides.

Tepedino, a 17-year Avnet veteran, most recently was in charge of Avnet Hall-Mark's Hewlett-Packard, Intel architecture and storage initiatives. He does not plan to make any major changes to the organization.

"Job [No. 1 for me is getting acquainted with customers that I haven't met or haven't seen in a while because I didn't have responsibility for their businesses," Tepedino said. "Then there's new customers through our recent acquisitions that I haven't had the occasion to meet. Also, [I want to get reacquainted with IBM and the software suppliers I haven't had the chance to meet with. Basically, [I want to get a good feel for the other parts of business. Then I'll see what twists and turns we can drive the company toward."

Tepedino spent the last couple of years integrating HP's HP Integrated Partner (HIP) program and growing the storage and IA businesses.

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"HP has had an ever-changing channel model. Now I can tell you our HP relationship is near an all-time high, and our ability to profit is also in place. HP is starting to see channel loyalty come back and sales growth come back through the channel," Tepedino said. "HP has good communication with its reseller base and distributors. The model has stabilized. The roles are clear. HP is poised for growth as IT spending takes off, which we believe will be in the second half of 2002."

Tepedino said he is excited about EMC's upcoming channel model. "I've spent a lot of time with them the last year or so. [The channel model is going to be groundbreaking," he said.

In addition to selling HP's Intel servers, Avnet is close to sealing deals to distribute Intel-based servers from Compaq Computer and IBM, Tepedino said.

"We've talked with Compaq and IBM about how to capitalize on their investment in this value channel through our solution VAR program," he said. "Resellers are challenged with how to take Windows to the enterprise. It's a platform you can source from a variety of places, so how do you maintain some margin with a fair amount of selling investment? Resellers want to be paid for that investment. That kind of education has been happening now, between the manufacturers, solution providers and us."