I was surprised and a little sad to learn that Jim Estill resigned as president and CEO of Synnex Canada yesterday.
Estill will be missed for certain. In these tough economic times and with a noticeable deceleration on IT spending in Canada, an executive with financial skills and market savvy such as Estill is needed more than ever.
Estill was a real maverick in the channel. If there was an inch of profit to be had he would find it and pass it onto the channel. He was also very unconventional in the way he ran EMJ and Synnex. For example, he liked to hire techies as sales people. Call it what you want, EMJ, based in Guelph, Ont. was very successful and out last many other distributors.
No real reasons have been given on why Estill would resign. Just a few weeks ago he called me all excited about the Stephen Harper stimulus package for Canada and how it benefits IT resellers. When Estill's executive assistant called me yesterday to book some time to talk with him I thought that he hatched some brilliant new business opportunity. Usually that is what Estill did over the years.
I hope that Estill's main reason for leaving is a new business venture that is so great he had to leave Synnex. I really hope that is the case and not some other non-business issue.
Whatever it is I will make sure to tell you about it and give you my opinion on it.
So CDN wishes Estill the very best in his future plans. And, I also want to pass along my best wishes for Mitchell Martin who will be taking over for him. Martin will have some big shoes to fill; that's for certain!
