Avnet Hall-Mark Market Connection Helps Resellers Capitalize On IT Spending Trends.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 2004

Avnet Hall-Mark, a leading worldwide value-added distributor of HP enterprise servers, storage, software and services, today announced Market Connection, a program providing HP resellers with a comprehensive array of resources to help them capitalize on the business opportunities that influence IT spending trends.

Market Connection relies on industry experts from analyst firm IDC and other sources to give resellers better insight into the specific opportunities prevalent in business today. The program focuses on one specific area of opportunity at a time. The first topic in the series covers Open Systems Platform Migration. This solution area will evaluate operating environment migration opportunities and how resellers can provide the most value while addressing their customers' business concerns.

There are several components to the Market Connection program:

-- Inform interested resellers about the immediate market

opportunity;

-- Outline the HP solution sets that will meet today's market

demand;

-- Develop a strategic business plan to seize the desired Market

Connection series opportunity;

-- Deliver solution sales training, through Avnet Hall-Mark's

Partner Academy, focusing on an implementation strategy to

capture opportunities;

-- Provide integrated marketing and lead generation programs to

build a pipeline of targeted and qualified customers;

-- Provide implementation services to maximize opportunities and

best serve customers.

"This program gives us targeted education and tools to uncover opportunities readily available in the market," said Larry Wardlaw, director of Enterprise Sales for Amherst Technologies. "Market Connection opens our eyes to industry challenges and allows us to approach our customers with a better understanding of their key concerns."

All of these components are designed to better equip reseller partners with the knowledge and tools necessary to fully leverage market opportunities. Focus areas in the Market Connection series continue with Regulatory Compliance and HP's Information Lifecycle Management program.

"Partner education, whether relating technical information or industry trends, is a key strategy for Avnet Hall-Mark in helping partners maintain their competitive advantage," stated Jim Kleeman, vice president and general manager of Avnet Hall-Mark's HP Business Unit. "We believe if our partners are better educated on key industry opportunities, they will be better able to provide solutions that directly meet the needs of their customers."

"The Market Connection program from Avnet Hall-Mark promotes a solutions approach to business concerns and complements HP's Adaptive Enterprise initiative to address customer needs for information technology," said Dan Vertrees, vice president and general manager for HP Americas enterprise partners.

About Avnet Hall-Mark

Headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., Avnet Hall-Mark is an industry-leading, value-added distributor of enterprise servers, storage, software and services, marketing exclusively to the reseller channel. Through operations in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Avnet Hall-Mark provides solutions from industry-leading manufacturers including BMC Software, EMC, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Network Appliance, Oracle, StorageTek and VERITAS -- driving growth for partners and manufacturers.

Avnet Hall-Mark is a division of the Avnet Technology Solutions operating group of Avnet Inc. (NYSE:AVT), one of the world's largest technology marketing, distribution and services companies. Avnet's sales for fiscal 2003 (year ended June 27) were $9.05 billion. For more information about Avnet Hall-Mark, visit: www.hallmark.avnet.com.

Products and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.