“I’ve got the best job in the entire ANZ IT industry”: Robbie Upcroft on his new role as Tech Data country GM

Upcroft speaks about the current state of distribution in Australia, what Tech Data is focusing on and the message to the market.

Robbie Upcroft has been the Tech Data ANZ country manager for a little over three months now and he says it is the best job in the Australian tech industry.

Speaking to CRN Australia exclusively, he told the publication how the first few months have been and how the role of the distributor has inherently changed.

He said the past few months as ANZ country manager have been “fantastic”.

“I know it sounds such a such a cliche, but I really do think I've got the best job in the entire ANZ IT industry,” he said.

“To have the opportunity 20 months ago now to come back to distribution and look after Tech Data now that is part of the global powerhouse that is TD Synnex was an absolute dream come true.”

Upcroft said when Andy berry announced his retirement, the opportunity for him to step into to that role was a “dream come true”.

“I get to be a part of the industry that is literally changing the world,” he stated.

“I don't say that with any hyperbole whatsoever in that you think about what's happening with AI and with security, and the way that we're embedding technology into every aspect of our lives.”

Upcroft commented on how the past weeks have been in his new managerial position.

“The last eight, nine weeks have been a whirlwind. I've barely set foot on the ground, let alone in the office. It's a very deliberate strategy to get out and about as much as possible,” he said.

“I was at the AWS region launch here in New Zealand, and they had 2,300 people, the bulk of which were partners, which I think is fantastic. The energy that we're seeing in the cloud ecosystem, whether it's AWS or Microsoft it's just palpable.”

Role of the distie in the Aussie IT ecosystem

Speaking to partners in Australia, Upcroft said several of them are clamouring for a different type of engagement with their distributors, where it's not just transactional.

“They're looking for that strategic guidance and service and advice. I think we're in a good position, and I'm exactly where I want to be,” he said.

Looking at the IT ecosystem, Upcroft said the distributor is in the centre, which he noted is a very distributor-centric view.

He referenced Tech Data’s StreamOne platform and newly released, TD Hub tool as ways to increase automation in a partner’s and vendor’s ecosystem.

“Increasingly, as a distributor, if you don't have that level of automation, often leveraging AI of course, to provide better guidance, if you don't have that platform, if you don't have that marketplace view, the partners, and increasingly the vendors, will look elsewhere,” he warned.

Tech Data’s focus

The number one segment that Tech Data is focusing on is MSPs and MSSPs.

“I think about the work that we do with the likes of Check Point, Sentinel One and Exabeam and other security vendors helping them reach out to more MSPs and enable those MSPs to become MSSPs,” he said.

“Particularly in the SMB space, those customers are outsourcing the security operations to their partner, and that means that the partner is then taking on a lot of risk on behalf of the customer to manage their security environment.”

Upcroft noted that if the partner's taking on a lot more risk, then what does the insurance footprint look like to those partners?

“So how do we help provide coverage, from an insurance point of view, with those partners? As the go to market expands across MSPs, and MSSPs, the distributor naturally, then is brought into different conversations as well,” he said.

“There's going to be a lot of interesting developments over the next 12, 18 to 24 months about the type of services that distributors will be providing to their partners.”

Message to the market

Speaking to his partners and vendors, Upcroft said he wants Tech Data to be a “trusted pair of hands”.

“Whether it's from the vendor or whether it's from the partner, but we want to be the distributor that you can trust,” he said.

“I know that word is thrown around so many different ways, but it's so important, particularly as there's increasing bottom line pressures across the board.”

Upcroft noted that while some partners or some vendors might want to cut through compliance or go bend the rules a little bit in order to close a deal at the end of the quarter, the distie won’t stand for it.

“We take a very firm stand as TD Synnex and Tech Data that we need to be the absolute most compliant partner that you can possibly have, and that starts with trust. There will be situations where we will say no to both vendors and partners,” he ended.