Tangible Takeaways for
Biggest Turnout to Date

Hosting an event in these challenging economic times takes more than careful planning. It takes motivated attendees – participants who immediately recognize the value and benefits of attending. This year’s GTDC Summit, which drew a record number of vendor companies and total attendees, says a lot about the advantages of the IT distribution industry.

Vendor channel execs clearly see many reasons to make the Summit a priority. From direct engagement with the CEOs, presidents and other leaders of today’s top distributors to the panels, presentations and breakout sessions, GTDC Summit 2009 delivered on expectations. All sessions received high ratings from the vast majority of respondents to our attendee survey. Our thanks go out to everyone for making this year’s Summit the most successful conference in its eight-year history.

In addition to the spirited discussions focused on key industry issues, we had the opportunity to shed light on emerging opportunities associated with stabilizing and improving market conditions. These observations aren’t based on wishful thinking. We have the insight that only actual sales-out data can reveal, as aggregated by The NPD Group Distributor Track (U.S.) and Context Sales Watch Distribution (Europe) services that track GTDC member business trends down to the SKU level. The participation of highly regarded independent market research specialists and consultants from McKinsey, IPED and Amazon Consulting further rounded out the unique perspective of Summit 2009.

Rising Stars Show Strong Sales in Tough Times

Another perennial Summit highlight, which we began four years ago, is the Rising Star Awards dinner that included a keynote by Dominic Orr, President and CEO of Aruba Networks. The exceptional sales of these winners in such difficult economic conditions make this year’s honors particularly memorable. Access the list of winners. See the Rising Star Awards slide show.

Intel President & CEO Paul Otellini’s keynote on the second day of the event represented yet another aspect of why GTDC Summit stands out as “the industry’s best annual conference,” as Dave O’ Callaghan, Cisco’s Vice President of Worldwide Distribution, recently Tweeted. Industry luminaries like Paul and Dominic as keynote speakers attest to the overall caliber of this event, and we’re already securing great keynote speakers for Summit 2010.

If you didn’t have the opportunity to attend this year’s Summit – or would like to share some highlights with others, please access or pass along this link to the related Webcast: GTDC Summit 2009 Highlights.

Other Related Links:
GTDC Summit 2009 slide show
Summit 2009 Presentations
ChannelWeb Slide Show of the Event

Channel Execs See More Sales
in Distribution, Less Direct

This year’s GTDC Summit, themed “Building Business in IT Distribution,” polled the nearly 200 attendees about market conditions as well as current challenges and new opportunities. Among the findings, nearly half of those polled cited plans to increase sales through distribution and decrease direct sales, while most of the remaining respondents expected their current mix of direct and indirect sales to remain constant.

Breakout sessions and panel discussions at GTDC Summit delved into many industry topics, with emphasis on how best to capitalize as the demand environment accelerates. In a session entitled, Architects of Innovation, a panel of distributor presidents and CEOs, spoke out on what vendor partners should do now to effectively drive more business.

Independent analysts also shared insights focused on “Blueprints for Revenue and Profitability Growth,” as part of this unique industry event – the only one of its kind, engaging the highest-level channel and distribution executives as well as channel research experts.

Intel and Aruba Networks
CEOs Deliver Industry Insight

Compelling keynote speakers are among the hallmarks of each year’s annual GTDC Summit. This year’s Summit was no exception.
Dominic Orr kicked off the Rising Star Awards dinner on Sept. 22nd with a compelling talk on the technical side of wireless communication, new protocols and what related trends mean for the reseller channel.

In his keynote address Sept. 23rd, Intel’s Paul Otellini shared extensive insights regarding industry growth drivers and trends as well as evolving customer expectations in an increasingly global, networked society.

Click here to access both keynote presentations and other Summit presentations.

Industry Insights You Need:
GTDC TechView

As an IT vendor, do you have a clear understanding of how your business compares to your competition in the world of IT distribution?

There’s no better way to gain the insights you need than through actual sales-out data aggregated by The NPD Group Distributor Track in the U.S. and Context Sales Watch Distribution in Europe. These subscription-based services track SKU-level sales and pricing trends – by channel – for unparalleled insight. And as industry conditions improve, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to fully capitalize in the markets that lead recovery.

To help IT vendors and others further understand the advantages of the actual sales-out data available with Distributor Track and Sales Watch Distribution, the GTDC is introducing “TechView,” a quarterly on-demand Webcast. We’re introducing it this month with highlights from Summit 2009. Access the Webcast.

In this inaugural TechView session, you and your colleagues can see week-to-week sales trends that show overall market conditions stabilizing on both sides of the Atlantic. How your company stacks up during this critical transition period can be easily obtained by subscribing to the NPD and Context services. We think you’ll find that the benefit you derive from the deep, accurate trend information available from these offerings more than offsets the subscription costs.

For more information, visit the GTDC Web site.

Summit 2009 Quick Links