2019 GTDC Summit EMEA Delves Into Channel Transformation Amidst Shifting IT Currents

Technology distribution leaders and regional vendor channel executives today conclude their annual EMEA Summit, hosted by the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC), the world’s largest international consortium of technology distributors. More than 140 attendees participated in the conference, which featured individual meetings as well as a broad range of panels, presentations and networking sessions, followed by a dinner event. GTDC members drive approximately $150 billion in business worldwide, and the conference convened 14 distributors and 38 vendor companies in the EMEA region.

“GTDC Summit EMEA is the only conference bringing together senior management from top regional distributors with vendor channel leaders for strategic discussions and learning,” said opening speaker Frank Vitagliano, appointed GTDC CEO at the end of April, succeeding Tim Curran, who retired earlier this year. “Strong partnerships are the backbone of industry transformation. Distributors and vendors must work more closely than ever in this era of unprecedented change and innovation to fully enable solution providers worldwide. This forum helps everyone gain a better understanding of how best to advance channel initiatives, services and solutions at a time when there’s absolutely no room for complacency.”

Inside the 2019 GTDC EMEA Summit
Summit EMEA highlights include Angel Talavera, lead Eurozone economist for Oxford Economics, sharing an in-depth view of how economic and political forces are reshaping the industry landscape; distribution panels moderated by acclaimed journalist and BBC broadcaster Declan Curry; insights from the 2018 Analyst of the Year, IDC’s Margaret Adam, AVP, European Services, Channels and Alliances Ecosystems; a market trends overview from Howard Davies, co-founder of channel market intelligence company CONTEXT; training breakouts by Quadmark’s Michael White and Wolfgang Pregel, two of the foremost authorities on distribution business management and partnerships; as well as extensive networking and private meeting time throughout the day for distributors and vendors.

“The spirit of collaboration is alive and well in Europe,” commented Peter van den Berg, the GTDC’s regional general manager. “The overall industry recognizes that channel partnerships will be instrumental in driving transformation, particularly in small and mid-size enterprises worldwide. Distributors have always played a central role, regardless of how technology offerings evolve. That reality will continue to become even more dynamic as new business models take shape and promising new services and multivendor solutions emerge.”

About The GTDC
The Global Technology Distribution Council is the industry consortium representing the world’s leading tech distributors. GTDC members drive approximately $150B in annual worldwide sales of products, services and solutions through diverse business channels. GTDC conferences support the development and expansion of strategic supply-chain partnerships that continually address the fast-changing marketplace needs of vendors, end customers and distributors. GTDC members include AB S.A, ABC Data, Almo Corporation, Arrow Electronics, CMS Distribution, Compuage Infocom Ltd., Computer Gross Italia, D&H Distributing, ELKO, Exclusive Networks, Ingram Micro, Intcomex, Logicom, Siewert & Kau, SiS Technologies, SYNNEX, Tarsus, Tech Data, TESSCO Technologies, Inc., TIM AG and Westcon-Comstor.