Avnet Receives webMethods Customer Innovation Award; Winning Solution Generates More Than $200 Million of Revenue Annually.

PHOENIX -- Avnet Inc. (NYSE:AVT), a leading global distributor of electronic components and computer products, today announced it received a Customer Innovation Award from webMethods for the impact its information technology team, the Global Information Solutions (GIS) group, has had on Avnet's business operations.

Avnet was recognized for its use of webMethods technology to provide a new distributor sales channel using electronic data interchange (EDI). The new channel, which eliminates manual processes and provides a self-service interface for customers to place and manage their own orders, generates more than $200 million worth of business per year.

"Avnet has long recognized the strategic value of its webMethods-based business integration platform, which provides the company with the ability to respond to market opportunities with unmatched speed, agility and precision," said Gary Beach, group publisher, CXO Media, who served as one of the independent judges. "In this example, they were able to quickly seize upon a recent change in the marketplace with this initiative credited for adding hundreds of millions of dollars in additional business."

"Avnet is pleased to have a distinguished set of third-party judges recognize our high-impact B2B solutions and their effect of increasing revenue," said Steve Phillips, chief information officer at Avnet. "We believe that Avnet leads the way in deploying and using technology to deliver competitive advantage -- both for Avnet and its partners."

"webMethods technology is a integral part of Avnet's IT infrastructure -- we continue to look for ways to use it to meet our customers' needs and look forward to developing solutions just as powerful in the future," said Bill Chapman, chief technology officer at Avnet.

About Avnet

Avnet enables success from the center of the technology industry, providing cost-effective services and solutions vital to a broad base of more than 100,000 customers and 300 suppliers. The company markets, distributes and adds value to a wide variety of electronic components, enterprise computer products and embedded subsystems. Through its premier market position, Avnet brings a breadth and depth of capabilities that help its trading partners accelerate growth and realize cost efficiencies. Avnet and the company it acquired in July 2005, Memec Group Holdings Limited, together generated more than $13 billion in revenue in the past year through sales in 68 countries. Visit www.avnet.com/.