Procures Great, Less Filling

Clearwater, FL  August 1, 2001  Tech Data Corp. today launched SupplyXpert Lite, a B2B Web storefront solution designed for technology solution providers serving the small- to mid-sized business (SMB) market. Using the tool, solution providers extend online ordering, real-time customized pricing and other dynamic supply-chain management capabilities to their end-user accounts, while retaining their brand identities.

Demand for e-commerce storefront solutions like SupplyXpert Lite marks the growing trend among SMBs to outsource electronic commerce (EC) applications as a means to reduce costs and speed product delivery cycles. Independent market research firm TechRepublic, a unit of Gartner Group Inc., estimates between 70 and 80 percent of SMBs prefer using packaged EC applications versus those developed in-house. Additionally, Gartner forecasts that through 2004 fewer than 30 percent of SMBs will maintain a full-service, internal IS organization, further reinforcing this outsourcing trend.

"SupplyXpert Lite provides a highly functional, managed Web solution that allows our customers to focus on the sell-side customer relationship instead of directing valuable resources toward populating and maintaining a storefront," said John Tonnison, vice president of electronic commerce for Tech Data. "By leveraging SupplyXpert Lite, SMB solution providers are able to rapidly deploy e-business productivity tools that best position them to meet critical business requirements."

SupplyXpert Lite, developed jointly with SupplyAccess Inc., an El Segundo, Calif.-based provider of strategic e-procurement solutions, is Tech Data's newest offering for solution providers serving the SMB market. Programs, such as TechSelect, a membership-based alliance of IT solution providers; and VAR Partner Plus, a customer-service program, provide a range of technology programs and services designed to support these SMB customers in building business-development strategies. Elements of the programs range from priority technical support and special financing options to customized marketing and educational services.