Providing the Highest Quality Products, Customer Service and Logistics Globally EPS Global, a Value-Add Distributor of SDDC Solutions for IT, Grows by Leaps and Bounds

The Silicon Review

“We are dedicated to delivering a differentiated sales experience to our customers, developing strong customer relationships based on service and component Value-Add capability”: Mick Mc Carthy

Companies today have a common challenge: Addressing their growing business needs while building an agile, automated, and programmable data center. As a result, an increasing number of IT organizations are starting to adopt a Software-Defined architecture as a means of transforming their legacy data centers into an IT as a Service model.

EPS Global is the SDDC (Software-Defined Data Center) Distributor of choice globally for IT, Automotive, Financial Services, IoT, Medical, Defense, Media & Broadcast, and Utilities industries.

The company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and has developed operations across five continents.

Interview Excerpt: Mick Mc Carthy, CEO

Why was the company set up? And how did you expand your company and its offerings over the years?

The company was set up in Ireland in 1999 by four industry executives who had successful careers in Component Distribution and associated Value-Add services. Ireland supported a vibrant electronics manufacturing industry at the time with many US and international OEMs and CEMs resident there. There were signs that this industry was transitioning to lower cost areas like Eastern Europe, China and Latin America and the founders felt that their in-depth knowledge of the manufacturing programs would help them expand the company internationally. EPS Global is now a leading, privately owned, Value-Add distributor for semiconductors, specialized IT components and systems. Our customer base includes Tier 1 Automotive Electronics suppliers, OEMs and Contract Manufacturers, Hyperscale Data Centers, service providers, and enterprise customers, in addition to 1,000+ resellers and system integrators who work within the big data management market.

There is nothing more important for a successful business than a well-defined mission statement. Can you explain your mission statement in brief?

Our customers constantly strive to reduce costs, increase productivity, and add value without sacrificing product performance or quality. EPS Global’s mission is to help.

We innovate across all divisions of our business.

In our Trading division, we select leading-edge strategic partners whose products are pioneering in their fields, allowing our customers to stand out and succeed in a crowded market. We are strong on technical competence – our Field Application Engineers offer guidance on the best product fit for our customers’ applications, and we offer product configuration and bundling of solutions for a hassle-free, integrated supply chain.

In our Component Value-Add division, our mission is to be the world’s foremost IC programming provider. We are dedicated to providing consistent quality and reliable on-time delivery. We have achieved ISO9001, ISO/TS16949 in our Processing Centers. Our systems are regularly audited under VDA 6.3 standards.

About adaptability, how do you stay relevant to the consumer interests and needs in this highly volatile market?

EPS Global has been around for almost 20 years now, and we have learned that volatility in the market is part and parcel of operating in the IT industry. It is important to develop a robust strategy for growth that can adapt to these cycles. The combination of our wide geographical footprint and our diverse customer base allows us to keep perspective, and manage risk, so that a setback in a particular market or vertical does not significantly impact our overall business.

Over our history we have seen several market downturns typically followed by strong recoveries.During volatile times it is more important than ever to keep a strong focus on the interests of our customers. By maintaining high satisfaction levels during down cycles we position ourselves to grow with a stronger, more loyal customer base once the market stabilizes.

What are the factors that make your brand one of the ‘Best’ companies?

2019 marks EPS Global’s 20th year in business, and we have shown a consistent record of profitability and systematic growth during that time, seeing sales growth of 30 percent in 2017, with another strong year forecast. We have a unique global footprint, with 28 locations worldwide providing local language customer service and technical sales support. We have an ambitious 10-year strategy for growth created by our Strategic Board which will be realized by our strong global team.

Also, our commitment to customer satisfaction is part of our cultural DNA, maintaining the highest service and quality standards that will continue to be the hallmark of our future growth and success.

Customer service varies, but companies can still be successful. How do you maintain your customers’ trust and loyalty?

We are customer-focused, flexible and easy to do business with. All Sales staff have face-to-face contact with their customers, developing strong relationships based on service and bringing value by introducing the right product or service mix based on their business needs.

We are an award-winning Value-Add distributor both from the point of view of our customers and our technology partners. We won the accolade of Top 20 SDN Solutions Provider in North America in 2017, and supplier awards including Global Distributor of the Year from Finisar (the world’s largest supplier of optical transceivers) for four years running, and Partner of the Year from Edge-core Networks (leading provider of networking equipment) in 2017.

A company must have the sense of authenticity and originality to succeed, is your company a ‘leader’ or a ‘follower’?

We have created a leading organization by investing in and recognizing the talents of our staff around the world. We have built one cohesive team, managed by our Senior Leadership Team under the guidance of our Board of Directors. Over the years we have used a system of mentoring to help individual team members make the transition to management thereby strengthening our group. We feel confident we can achieve our ambitious growth aspirations by leveraging the strength and experience of our global team.

Have you any exciting announcements you’d like to share with us?

We have just launched our annual conference, Datacenter Transformation, which is the premier Open Networking and Data Center education event in the DACH region. IT Professionals, Engineers and Business Leaders working in Data Centers, Mobile, Cloud, Telcos, Financial Services, Media & Broadcast and HPC from across Europe will come to our conference to learn about the technologies and hardware that form the basis of Open Networking from industry leaders such as the Open Compute Project Foundation, Edge-core Networks, Penguin Computing, Cumulus Networks and Finisar.

We are holding this year’s event on September 20th in e-shelter data center in Frankfurt, one of Europe’s largest data center networks, and the schedule includes a tour granting exclusive access to their Innovation Lab – a test environment where world’s most advanced cloud technology providers validate their innovations faster and at a lower cost.

Registration is open now at www.epsglobal.com/roadshow.

Where do you see your company a couple of years from now?

EPS Global’s Strategic Board has developed detailed 10-year growth plans for our Trading and Component Value-Add Divisions which are ambitious yet realistic.

Our Trading division will double its sales by 2027, growing revenue through a mix of market penetration, market development and product development strategies, while making strenuous efforts to maintain our gross margin percentage.

Our Component Value-Add division will continue to strengthen its R&D activity in the area of automated component handling equipment thereby enabling a significant ramp-up in capacity. By continuing our push into Automotive Electronics as well as Medical, IoT and existing OEM and CEM engagements we will see sharply increasing demand for our services. We will service this by continuing our global expansion program to include Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and developing African locations within a 10-year vista bringing our total number of Processing Centers from 16 to 20 globally. This development is underpinned by our harmonized quality systems in all locations and our ability to successfully pass customer audits, particularly under VDA 6.3 guidelines, which is a strict German automotive standard.

To find out more about EPS Global’s SDDC solutions, see www.epsglobal.com.

Meet The CEO: A Brief Background

Mick Mc Carthy: Mick Mc Carthy is the CEO and co-founder of EPS Global. Originally an accountant by profession, Mc Carthy has been the architect of the organization’s global expansion program and owns the P&L. Previously the Managing Director of Avnet Electronics Ireland, where he grew the business over 100percent per year for four consecutive years. During his time with Avnet UK, Mc Carthy supervised 350 personnel and restructured the internal and external sales organization, including significant work force improvement. During this time, Mc Carthy was appointed VP of Avnet Electronics managing the customer demand transition from OEM to CEM in Europe and spearheaded growth initiatives driven by TAM to DTAM conversions.