Purcell honored for his dedication to operational excellence, helping Avnet to efficiently expand its global scale and scope
Avnet,
Inc. (NYSE:AVT),
a leading global technology distributor, today announced that Ger
Purcell, senior vice president of IT for Avnet, Inc., was selected by
IDG’s Computerworld
as a 2014 Premier 100 IT Leader honoree. The Premier 100 spotlights
leaders from both the technology and business sides of companies for
their exceptional technology leadership and innovative approaches to
business challenges.
“Ger has an incredible ability to create high levels of collaboration
between business leaders and IT professionals in a way that drives
tangible business results for Avnet,” said Steve
Phillips, senior vice president and CIO,
Avnet, Inc. “In particular, he led a multi-year IT initiative to create
a common applications portfolio globally that has significantly improved
Avnet’s operational efficiency, saved millions of dollars and created
the foundation for Avnet to innovatively meet the needs of its business
partners in the future. This prestigious award highlights the valuable
role that Ger plays every day in helping Avnet achieve its business
goals.”
Purcell joined Avnet in 2008, and he is responsible for creating the IT
strategy for one of Avnet’s operating groups – Avnet
Technology Solutions. In this role, Purcell led the development and
deployment of a common application portfolio. This has enabled Avnet
Technology Solutions to leverage its global scale and scope, while
significantly reducing costs. Additionally, Purcell and his team have
played a critical role in integrating more than 20 companies that Avnet
has acquired into Avnet Technology Solutions, helping the operating
group efficiently expand its footprint in Asia Pacific; Europe, the
Middle East and Africa (EMEA); Latin America; and North America.
Purcell has also played a key role in evolving the IT skillset of
Avnet’s employees. For example, he developed a “Technology
Day” initiative that provides Avnet’s IT team with an opportunity to
participate in sessions to learn about new technology areas, which is
followed by a job shadowing program. In addition, he leads Avnet’s
Global Development Centers located in China, which are instrumental in
creating a “follow the sun” IT support model for Avnet.
“The Premier 100 awards program, now in its 15th year, shines a
well-deserved spotlight on a group of talented, creative and
hard-working men and women. These IT executives are driving technology
innovation in business, education and government across the country and
around the world,” said Scot Finnie, editor in chief of Computerworld.
“Technology advances quickly, and these leaders excel at keeping pace
with the changing needs of customers and employees, and making fast
technology decisions that map to their organizations' top priorities.
They have developed a deep bench of talented IT staffers at their
organizations and managed to keep their own skills fresh by constantly
mastering new technologies and processes. We are privileged to recognize
the leadership and achievements of the 2014 Premier 100 honorees.”
Purcell is one of three Avnet IT leaders that have received this
lifetime recognition. Phillips
became a member of the Premier 100 in 2011, when he was honored for his
ability to develop innovative IT strategies to drive growth
opportunities for Avnet that have helped the company respond to market
changes and enhance customer service. Additionally, Avnet’s vice
president of enterprise infrastructure, Brad
Kenney, was named to this list in 2013 for his commitment to
increasing the operational and energy efficiency of Avnet’s North
American data
center and managing the company’s rapid data
growth.
Purcell will receive his award at the Premier 100 awards ceremony at Computerworld’s
annual Premier 100 IT Leadership Conference, to be held March 2-4,
2014, at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson, Ariz. The
conference, to be attended by more than 350 influential senior IT
managers, will showcase honorees and other IT innovators as they discuss
how to create competitive IT organizations. Additional information is
available at www.premier100.com.
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with Avnet on LinkedIn or Facebook: http://www.linkedin.com/company/2572
or facebook.com/avnetinc
View
videos from Avnet and its business partners: http://www.avnetondemand.com/
Read
more about Avnet on our blogs: http://blogging.avnet.com/
Learn
about Avnet's approach to IT on the Behind the Firewall blog: http://blogging.avnet.com/weblog/cioinsights
About the Premier 100
The Premier 100 program was created in 2000 to spotlight individuals who
have had a positive impact on their organizations through technology.
These are individuals who manage internal IT organizations, mentor and
motivate their IT teams and business colleagues, create a positive work
environment, envision innovative solutions to business challenges and
effectively manage and execute IT strategies. Each year, nominees are
invited to complete a questionnaire that addresses a number of topics,
including their background and experience and their attitude toward risk
and innovation. Using Computerworld’s IT Leader Index, which is a
measurement of how closely an individual matches our definition of the
IT Leader, we analyze the data. Each year, 100 honorees are selected to
receive this life-time recognition award. Information on previous
honorees can be viewed at: www.computerworld.com/s/article/9065479/Premier_100_IT_Leaders
About Computerworld
Computerworld is the leading source of technology news and
information for IT influencers, providing peer perspective, IT
leadership and business results. Computerworld’s award-winning
website (www.computerworld.com),
publication, focused conference series, custom solutions and custom
research forms the hub of the world’s largest (40+ edition) global IT
media network and provides opportunities for IT solutions providers to
engage this audience. Computerworld leads the industry with an
online audience of over 3.8 million unique, monthly visitors (Omniture,
November 2012) and was recognized as the Best Website by ASBPE and TABPI
in 2012. Computerworld is published by IDG Enterprise, a
subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world’s leading media,
events and research company. Company information is available at www.idgenterprise.com.
About Avnet, Inc.
Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), a Fortune 500 company, is one of the largest
distributors of electronic components, computer products and embedded
technology serving customers globally. Avnet accelerates its partners'
success by connecting the world's leading technology suppliers with a
broad base of customers by providing cost-effective, value-added
services and solutions. For the fiscal year ended June 29, 2013, Avnet
generated revenue of $25.5 billion. For more information, visit www.avnet.com.
All brands and trade names are trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are the properties of their respective owners. Avnet disclaims any
proprietary interest in marks other than its own.
Avnet, Inc.
Joal Redmond, 1-480-643-5528
joal.redmond@avnet.com
or
Brodeur Partners, for Avnet, Inc.
Marcia Chapman, 1-480-308-0284
mchapman@brodeur.com