Avnet Hall-Mark Provides Reseller Partners with Vertical Market Program to Expand Their Business Opportunities.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 2003

Avnet Hall-Mark, a leading value-added distributor of HP enterprise servers, storage, software and services, has launched a vertical market program to leverage resellers' expertise and assist them with building a strategy capitalizing on new market opportunities in the healthcare, manufacturing and finance industries.

Avnet Hall-Mark's vertical market program contains four components, including awareness, education, opportunity mapping and development of a lead-generation campaign specific to each unique industry. During this week's Enterprise Partner Summit, hosted by Avnet Hall-Mark in Phoenix, resellers can select from sessions in healthcare, manufacturing and finance to gain knowledge about the market opportunities. Once a market focus is chosen, Avnet Hall-Mark will work with each reseller partner to map its IT expertise to the named vertical. The program continues with a lead-generation campaign, including direct mail and telemarketing, to identify the needs of the customer and further promote the reseller's expertise.

"This new vertical market program from Avnet Hall-Mark gives me the resources I need to create an additional go-to-market strategy to grow my business," said Rick Rubenstein, president of RMS Business Systems, of Buffalo Grove, Ill. "With their assistance, we are able to create new business in areas not currently covered by our sales staff."

"Our vertical market program creates a 'solutions approach' for reseller partners," said Eileen Gibson, vice president of HP customer marketing for Avnet Hall-Mark. "It leverages the current expertise of our partners and matches them with additional resources from both HP and Avnet Hall-Mark for a successful marketing and sales strategy."

The vertical market approach is a focused method to enter new areas of business. "Avnet Hall-Mark has developed a collaborative program to leverage HP's vertical market expertise, resulting in increased market penetration by reseller partners," said Dan Vertrees, vice president and general manager for HP Americas enterprise partners. "Together, we can leverage our market resources and proactively assist solution providers with identification and penetration of specific vertical markets."

This marketing program initially began with an awareness campaign conducted on behalf of HP, targeting more than 180,000 end users within the three key targeted market verticals. "The market awareness, coupled with knowledge and training, makes it easier for Avnet Hall-Mark reseller partners to identify specific vertical market opportunities, enabling them to approach the business with confidence and expertise," Gibson concluded.

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, 2003) were $9.05 billion. For more information about Avnet Hall-Mark, visit: www.hallmark.avnet.com.

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