With a network of 15 subsidiaries throughout the region, two consolidation centers located in Miami and Panama, serving 41 countries, Intcomex currently serves more than 50,000 resellers, represented by value-added channels, retailers and telecommunications operators.
By Santiago Jaramillo Hincapié
In January 1989, Anthony Shalom, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and his son, Michael Shalom– CEO, President and Director– founded Intcomex as a small local software distributor in South Florida. That same year, they began exporting IT products from the United States to several Latin American countries.
The first affiliate for sales and distribution opens in Mexico in 1990, adding two new subsidiaries in Panama and Chile four years later. In 1997, it expanded its operations to Peru, Guatemala and Uruguay. In 2000, affiliates were established in El Salvador, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Jamaica, followed by Colombia, being the last subsidiary to open its doors for the business in 2004.
To capitalize on the IT product export business in Latin America and the Caribbean, the company opens its headquarters in Miami, Florida, to serve those areas and other locations where it did not have a local presence. Driven by a strong commitment to improving customer value, the company enters the mobile distribution market in 2011, and has since further diversified its portfolio with the integration of cutting-edge cloud-based solutions and electronic software distribution platforms.
Today, with almost 30 years of leadership in the region, Intcomex has consolidated its presence by growing from a small distribution company based in Miami to a multinational platform of value-added solutions and technological products.
Diego Lozano, who is in charge of the direction of the security division of Intcomex was the one who guided the visit to its imposing headquarters in Miami. With him we were able to explore several aspects that will surely allow us to know more closely the current situation of this company and the industry in the region.
Lozano highlights that "the Security Division of Intcomex ended 2017 with a positive balance in all its indicators. In addition to being the largest technology distribution platform in Latin America and the Caribbean, Intcomex is consolidating itself as a benchmark in the world of Electronic Security."
The director of the security division of Intcomex explains that the first great achievement was the strengthening of an infrastructure and work team specialized in security throughout the region. "We have a team of more than 70 people dedicated to the field of security," he stresses.
He also adds that "we have consolidated the most complete offer in Electronic Security on the market with specialization in different categories. Also, we must highlight our portfolio of products and solutions in video surveillance and access control, hand in hand with leading manufacturers in their segment such as Hikvision, ZKTeco, RBH, among others. This allowed us to double the results compared to 2016."
Regarding the trends and / or perspectives that he observes in the Electronic Security division for 2018, Lozano highlights that definitely having the leading brands in the market allows them to offer their customers state-of-the-art solutions with a range of possibilities that help them, in turn, to strengthen and grow in new business opportunities.
"Specialized products and solutions will be the most relevant of the Electronic Security division in 2018: traffic, citizen surveillance, government and infrastructure, are our target markets, obviously without neglecting traditional solutions," says Diego.
It also highlights that the new products are clearly marked by better quality and specifications, plus efficiency in processing, transmission and storage through better compression methods.
Regarding what novelties the Electronic Security division of Intcomex will bring in 2018 (product, commercial, arrival targets, marketing, etc.), the director of the security division of Intcomex states that "our number one priority is our customers, in that sense we want to reinforce all the areas that allow us to offer a unique service and experience transferring the greatest amount of value: continue with our training program, expand the resources dedicated to pre-sales in order to support our channels in their different needs and projects and expand the offer of products and solutions in areas such as fire detection/ extinction and integration software".
In the same sense, Lozano highlights, this value proposition will allow them to offer integral solutions which, together with the products of other Intcomex business units (networking, storage, IT), will reinforce their portfolio in a superior and differentiated way without losing the basis of their growing distribution platform with availability throughout the region and infrastructure, local services and credit solutions in 15 countries, without being competition for its customers.
