Avnet Hall-Mark Applauds HP Resellers Recognized For Outstanding Performance in Enterprise Storage.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 3, 2003

Avnet Hall-Mark congratulates three of its value-added resellers (VARs) who were recognized by HP for outstanding partnership, performance and initiative in marketing the company's enterprise storage solutions in 2002.

Awarded HP Storage Partner of the Year Awards at a ceremony held at HP's ENSA@Work Enterprise Storage Conference were: Nth Generation, San Diego, winner of the Western Area Storage Partner of the Year Award; American Digital Corp., Chicago, which earned recognition as the Central Area Storage Partner of the Year; and GE Capital IT Solutions, Mississauga, Ontario, Canadian Storage Partner of the Year.

"Avnet Hall-Mark is pleased that HP has recognized the contributions of American Digital, GE Capital IT Solutions and Nth Generation in growing HP's leading position in the storage market," said Anthony Vottima, vice president and general manager, Avnet Hall-Mark HP Business Unit. "These partners have made significant investments in building their storage practices, and they have demonstrated their ability to build market share and highlight the advantages of HP storage technology."

"The HP field sales team selects the winners of the HP Storage Partner of the Year Awards each year based on what HP believes are the underlying tenets of a true partnership," said Ed Burke, director of partner storage sales, HP Network Storage Solutions. "Our storage partners around the country, with their dedication and deep engagement with HP and with customers, are critical to helping HP deliver a controllable, resilient and extensible storage infrastructure that maximizes customers' return on IT."

The storage market is a strategic imperative for Avnet Hall-Mark's HP Business Unit as it continues to enhance tools and programs designed to help resellers grow their storage businesses. For example, the HP Business Unit recently announced a marketing and lead generation program, called 3D Marketing. 3D includes two solutions which are key issues for enterprise storage users today -- business continuity and consolidation. In addition, the HP Business Unit recently rolled out Networked Storage Advisor for HP resellers. The service enables partners to perform automated assessments to quickly determine levels of activity and problem areas on a customer's network. The distributor also employs a team of dedicated storage professionals to help partners improve their knowledge and performance as storage consultants.

About Avnet Hall-Mark

Headquartered in Tempe, Avnet Hall-Mark is an industry-leading, value-added distributor of enterprise servers, storage, software and services, marketing exclusively to the reseller channel.

Avnet Hall-Mark is a division of the $2.4 billion Avnet Computer Marketing operating group of Avnet Inc. (NYSE:AVT), one of the world's largest technology marketing, distribution and services companies. Avnet's sales for fiscal 2002 (year ended June 30) were $8.9 billion. For more information about Avnet Hall-Mark, visit: www.hallmark.avnet.com.