Expanding Express Data NZ starts 2014 with a bang

Express Data New Zealand has started its financial year with a bang, with its Q1 figures beating budget and improving on last year's record breaking figures.

The distributor is eyeing up new vendors and new systems this year, as it continues to forge ahead.

Phil Presnall, Express Data general manager of sales and marketing, says the the 2013 financial year, ending 30 September, was the company's 'biggest ever'.

Express Data's F13 annual report shows revenue from sale of goods was $138.7 million, up from $123.3 million in 2012. Profit after tax, however, was down from $2.34 million to $1.96 million.

Presnall says the company is experiencing double digit growth on the bottom line, as well as GP and revenue, with expectations high for 2014. He was unable to reveal specific figures for Q1.

While he's playing his cards close to his chest when it comes to plans for the year ahead – and admits to being wary of giving too much away in a market currently experiencing high vendor churn and strong competition – he says 2014 will see new vendors for Express Data, along with new delivery models.

The company lost the Adobe distribution late last year, when the vendor opted for a single distributor model with Ingram Micro. However, Presnall says announcements on new vendors are 'not far away'.

"We're not so much replacing. There's always a level of churn in distribution, you take some new vendors on and others drop out.

"We have a pipeline of conversation with new vendors," he says.

Presnall says he's seeing 'a very strong push towards cloud offerings' from vendors, and Express Data is positioning itself to move quickly with vendor demand.

The company has also been putting more focus recently on creating value add in key areas, around things such as project rollouts, with benefits from that focus expected to flow through throughout the year.

"The market is changing at such a rapid pace and alignment with what vendors want and being nimble and able to transition to new ways of doing things is important.

"Vendors are looking for partners who can add value rather than just do the transactional. And we have plans around that.

Monthly Net Promoter Scores are also being introduced to help ensure the distributor is delivering on its promises 'for every order'.

While Presnall says the network market – the foundation on which Express Data has grown – has been 'really, really strong, and I expect another strong year in that area', he's also optimistic about the opportunities presented by the mega trends of social media, mobile, analytics and big data. "They're bringing big changes, but also big opportunities.

"The [financial] forecast going forward is positive [for New Zealand] so it should be a strong year for everyone.

Technologies, systems and new vendors aside, Presnall says it's Express Data's team which propelled the company to last year's record figures and which will play a key role in this year's growth.

"The people we have here around our major products are the reason we are doing so well

The expertise we have around brands like Cisco, IBM, Microsoft and Autodesk is second to none.

"Having the people and culture we have is the business is a strong asset and enables us to give the best customer experience.