Danny Moore: Why I left Express Online

Danny Moore has told CRN that he had always planned to leave Express Online after the integration with its new owner, Dicker Data, was complete.

The acquisition completed on 1 April, and the integration of Express Online and parent company, Express Data, were "ahead of schedule", said Moore.

He said a role at Dicker Data "wasn't the ideal fit for me personally".

"The fact is, there is a very experienced senior executive team," said Moore.

His departure comes after more than 15 years in distribution. While there are no employment restrictions or non-compete arrangements in place, Moore said he intends to spend some time weighing his options before making his next move.

In fact, Moore was approaching the end of the three-year contract he signed with Express Online in 2011 when it acquired his former company, Simms International.

"I have been in the industry for a long time – a couple of acquisitions and a few integrations – so I'll be taking a little break to recharge the batteries and figure out what the next thing will be."

Moore entered the distribution space in 1998 when he joined Simms as finance director. He was appointed managing director in 2001.

He was a well-known figure in the Apple channel, having overseen the vendor since Simms acquired Apple's local distributor, KH Distribution, in 2006.

While Moore was largely positive about Dicker Data, he said the distie's handling of the Apple account was one regret.

"I was very disappointed that Dicker couldn't come to terms with Apple. That was a major part of the business that I built over the past year and competed again the big names like Ingram. To have that handed to competitors on a silver platter was very disappointing."

When Dicker Data revealed it had lost the Apple account in April, company founder David Dicker was pragmatic about the loss, explaining how tough it was to make a healthy margin reselling Apple.

Moore said that while Apple could be "very difficult to deal with", the vendor brought many benefits. "People don't understand Apple. I acquired the KH Apple distribution business in 2006. It is not just about the Apple portfolio itself. Apple has always been creating new market opportunities along the way."

State of distribution

Dicker Data's Express Data acquisition should turn the homegrown distie into a billion-dollar behemoth to rival tier-one players Ingram Micro and Synnex.

Moore was optimistic about Dicker's chances, as a "people-driven" distributor up against its "KPI-driven" rivals.

"Dicker is still a uniquely run distribution business and has a very strong value proposition against Ingram and Synnex. Even though they are now a big business, they have some very good people there, customer-centric people," said Moore.

He agreed that Ingram was now a resurgent force in the channel, following some difficult years. "Having the Apple business handed to them" would only help, added Moore.

"The best thing for Ingram and the worst thing for the channel [ie, for competing distributors] is to have Matt Sanderson running it. They are coming on strong; having Matt at the helm is helping that."

Overall, Moore was positive about the status of the Australian distribution market.

"A lot of people say distribution is a dying breed but I don't see that… we are still an isolated region where specialist distributors benefit those global partners that don't have presence in Australia.

"Dicker will shake it up, no doubt. The Avnets of the world, they are going through their own restructuring to repositions themselves.

"Resellers have enjoyed a resurgent and competitive Ingram Micro. The channel has never seen a more competitive market than the past three years," said Moore.