A vibrant ecosystem
A vibrant ecosystem
for the public sector
Bringing together all stakeholders in the public sector, raising the overall level of knowledge, and providing the best possible IT solutions to this sector. TD SYNNEX wants to achieve this by actively helping build a public sector ecosystem with end-users, vendors and the entire indirect channel. Trefdag Digitaal Vlaanderen is an excellent moment to unite the various actors and shape this community.
TD SYNNEX already supports other similar communities and promotes cross-fertilisation between all these communities. Other communities TD SYNNEX is betting on include Captains of the IT, Born in the cloud, Young IT professionals, Small & Medium Business IT Channel, and Smart Workplace.
What should be the purpose of such a community, and what is TD SYNNEX’s role?
Jochen Bonne: There’s a lot of growth potential in the public sector. All governments, whether local, federal or international, need robust IT solutions.
Michèle Brackenier: The public sector includes all local and higher governments, the entire healthcare sector, education, utilities and the various international institutions based in Belgium. Altogether, this is a huge market with many opportunities.
Jochen Bonne: But governments don’t always know the technical possibilities. On the other hand, resellers and vendors don’t always know the exact needs of the sector. We deploy every channel to connect all parties in an independent and neutral way, both online and in-person. We also organise training sessions via TD Academy on how to be successful in the public sector. For example, what to look out for when filling in a set of specifications. We also put resellers in touch with each other to participate in a large tender, possibly as a consortium, in order to meet all the conditions of a call for tenders. TD SYNNEX thus acts as a trusted advisor and is the muscle behind digital ecosystems.
Besides connecting all players in the market, what is TD SYNNEX’s added value?
Jochen Bonne: Because we represent many different suppliers, we have an independent position. Therefore, we can provide impartial and objective advice both to the public sector and our reseller channel. We have an extensive network of resellers, each with their own specialisations and capabilities, and we can supplement any missing expertise or capability with our services. Examples include presales support, setting up demo environments, proofs-of-concept and configuration, as well as migration services and logistics once a project has to be delivered. This allows us to support our partners and suppliers when realising complex and complete solutions. In addition, we can provide credit facilities and project loans if necessary to make it financially sustainable for the reseller.
Information strengthens the digital ecosystem
Michèle Brackenier: Providing information is key in this whole story. We have a broad understanding of procurement processes and the publication of tenders. This is public information, but not everyone has the time to figure it all out. We can share this knowledge with vendors and resellers. At the same time, we gain informal knowledge within our ecosystem about the direction the public sector wants to take. We aggregate that information and pass it on to our vendors so that they can prepare for new developments in the market. For example, if new data standards are on the horizon, vendors can adapt to them. This is good for the vendors themselves and for the end customer, who will be served faster and have more choices. Providing training sessions or certifications is also part of the information aspect.
So you are building a very powerful
digital ecosystem here?
Michèle Brackenier: When different parties collaborate with each other, both on the provider and buyer side, they encourage each other to advance. We notice this when regional, federal and European governments cooperate on specific themes or encourage each other by imposing certain standards, for instance on digitisation. An example is the Flemish project ‘Gemeente zonder Gemeentehuis,’ which is causing quite a stir among local authorities. We make that ecosystem even more complete by referring for those specific topics to resellers who specialise in those subjects.
Logistical support
In what other ways do you support resellers?
Jochen Bonne: We are doing our bit in terms of digitalisation and automation of the reseller channel. We enable resellers to connect quickly and efficiently with the V-ICT-OR ‘Buy-IT public’ platform, where Flemish local authorities can order IT equipment. This is done via the TDengage platform, the e-shop linked to the portfolio of our own Intouch e-shop.
Are there any other issues you can take off the hands of the channel?
Michèle Brackenier: The rollout of large projects is sometimes a complex affair, requiring many devices to be configured and supplied with software in a short period of time. At the start of the new school year, for example, tens of thousands of PCs have to be prepared for schools. Resellers cannot always handle such peaks; our service department can. We reserve this capacity in the summer months for the education market. For the rest of the year, these services are available for large projects at companies or large institutions.
Jochen Bonne: We also use our economy of scale to limit the transport of devices. Oftentimes, several things need to be done to a PC, which requires the device to be moved from one party to another. We centralise all these interventions. This reduces the lead time of those processes and lowers the price for the end-user. It also reduces the carbon footprint of a device.