Tech Data Canada

Tech-Data-RGB-JILLIn late November, 1974, Tech Data Corporation was founded by Edward C. Raymund, father of the company’s chairman and former chief executive officer Steven A. Raymund. In 1983, the company redirected its business to support microcomputer resellers as a wholesale distributor. Tech Data employed about a dozen people then and handled all customer orders from a small office/warehouse building in Clearwater, Fla., not far from the company’s worldwide headquarters today.

Solid performance in the United States supported the company’s international expansion. Tech Data entered Canada in 1989 through an acquisition, and in early 1993 the company launched an export division based in Miami to serve the Latin American market. Tech Data entered the European market in 1994 through an acquisition and opened its first distribution centre in Latin America in 1997.

In 1998 Tech Data acquired a majority interest in Munich-based Computer 2000, Europe’s leading IT products distributor. Computer 2000 also gave the company a broader presence in Latin America. In 1999, the company doubled its size in the Canadian market through the acquisition of Globelle Canada. In 2003, Tech Data acquired several companies include Azlan Group PLC, to further strengthen its European operations.

In October 2006, Dutkowsky was named CEO of Tech Data. He joined the company with nearly 30 years experience in the IT industry, including senior executive management positions in sales, marketing and distribution with leading manufacturers and software publishers IBM, EMC and J.D. Edwards. He quickly began positioning the company to capitalize on new growth opportunities with a renewed emphasis on three key strategies: execution, innovation and diversification.

In February 2007, Tech Data established its first joint venture, Brightstar Europe, to capitalize on the emerging mobile and wireless device market in Europe. Last year, Tech Data further strengthened its position in Europe by acquiring certain assets of Nordics-based IT distributor Scribona, making Tech Data the region’s market leader.

The company – established during the formative years of the computer industry as a data-processing supplies reseller – has evolved considerably during the last three decades and is now one of the world’s largest IT products distributors. For its fiscal year ended January 31, 2010, Tech Data generated net sales of $22.1 billion, supported more than 125,000 IT resellers in more than 100 countries, shipped more than 40 million items, extended billions of dollars in credit to its customers and was ranked 102nd on the Fortune 500.

You can find full news coverage of Tech Data here.