Image Gallery: ScanSource Global Partner Conference
Last week, more than 1,400 partners, customers and others from 26 countries converged in Greenville, South Carolina, for ScanSource’s Global Partner Conference. With its 25th anniversary just weeks away, the distributor’s big message was adopting new capabilities and transitioning to keep up with the latest technologies and market demands.
The $4 billion company told partners it’s ready to help them in their transformations to cloud and connectivity, managed services, SaaS and other capabilities increasingly in demand, and that customer experience is a top priority for everyone.
“We’ve got to rebuild what we do, we’ve got to rebuild what we’re known for together, and we want to help you do that,” said Mike Baur, ScanSource’s CEO.
Scroll through our gallery below to see the highlights of this conference.
When done, read our articles from the event, including why ScanSource execs say education is the biggest vertical for the company’s networking and security unit, and why ScanSource says a better customer experience is the top priority,
Follow contributing editor @EdwardGately on Twitter.
CEO Mike Baur welcomes attendees to the conference and shares the results of research ScanSource conducted to find out what end-user customers are looking for when working with the distributor and its partners.
“We have got to help you create a better customer experience,” he said. “Our job is to help you do more for that customer.”
Baur leads a panel discussion with executives of four companies that ScanSource has acquired: CDC Brasil, Intelisys, Network1 and POS Portal.
“Today we need to find out not only how we can sell solutions, but what to charge for solutions (and) what we can add to those solutions,” said Alex Conde, CDC Brasil’s founder. “We have a bigger opportunity today because the market is changing fast and we just need to be ready to change our business much faster than before.”
Greg Dixon, ScanSource’s chief technology officer, leads a panel discussion with end-user customers from the Greenville area, including Tribe 513, PuroClean, Goddard School for Early Childhood Development and ProSource Plumbing Supplies, to talk about their technology needs.
ScanSource partners socialize during the opening reception in the expo hall, where its key vendors exhibited their offerings. Baur said ScanSource is embracing new market opportunities on its partners’ behalf, “so what we’re doing hopefully is a model of what you can do.”
Avaya’s booth in the expo hall. David Hertwig, president of ScanSource Catalyst, said Avaya’s upcoming emergence from chapter 11 bankruptcy will be “exciting” for his company and its partners.
Cisco’s booth in the expo hall. Brian Cuppett, senior vice president of ScanSource KBZ, which is focused primarily on Cisco, said with Cisco’s upcoming acquisition of BroadSoft, “we’re excited about that opportunity to help us.”
“We’ve already had a relationship with BroadSoft before from our Polycom side of the house; we actually were a vendor of BroadSoft’s,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a real[ly] interesting opportunity with what Cisco can do for channel partners especially … in the cloud where now they’re one of the biggest players there with the BroadSoft acquisition. We feel we’re in a good spot not only to deliver product, but services, provisioning and process enhancements around all of that.”
Honeywell, an exhibitor in the expo hall, is a manufacturer partner in the ScanSource POS and barcode business unit.
An evening reception at Greenville’s Old Cigar Warehouse highlighted the various “flavors and vibes” of ScanSource’s different offices around the world, such as a mariachi band performing in an area representing Mexico.
Partners mingle and celebrate during an evening reception at the Old Cigar Warehouse.
Alissa Parker, co-founder and director of Safe and Sound Schools, and Robert Boyd, executive director of Secure Schools Alliance, talk about how partners can help ensure that schools are better protected.
