“Reyna is focused and ready to take the reins- no pun intended- to create change,” said Michael Kanan, chairman and CEO of InaCOMP.

TD Synnex North America Advanced Solutions Chief Reyna Thompson is taking over as North America President on December 1, replacing 40-year TD Synnex sales and distribution icon Peter Larocque, who is moving into an advisory role.

“Reyna is a game-changer,” said Michael Kanan, chairman and CEO of Southfield, Mich.-based InaCOMP and co-president of CommunitySolv, TD Synnex’s $8 billion “exclusive/inclusive” partner community. “Reyna is focused and ready to take the reins—no pun intended—to create change. I’m excited to see what she can do in the future.”

The announcement of the changing of the guard in North America leadership comes just two days after TD Synnex Chief Operating Officer Patrick Zammit officially took the helm as CEO on September 1.

[RELATED: Partners Look To TD Synnex’s Incoming CEO For AI Leadership]

Zammit replaced TD Synnex CEO Rich Hume, who retired after six years at the helm and maintains a seat on the company’s board of directors.

CRN reached out to TD Synnex to request an interview with Thompson and Larocque but had not heard back at press time.

Kanan, who met with Thompson several weeks ago, said he expects the 31-year TD Synnex veteran to make a “big difference” leading the charge on driving sales growth in North America.

“Reyna is going to be driven by data, her instincts and influence,” he said. “She is not afraid to disrupt as long as she understands what the desired outcome will be. I see her as a someone that will look at what the desired outcome is and allow the people that are the stake holders to reverse-engineer it and bring it to life.”

The “beauty” of the TD Synnex “succession” plan for the widely admired Larocque is the difference in leadership between the two long time executives, said Kanan.

“If you pick a me-too person, you are probably making the wrong decision,” said Kanan, a 43-year solution provider entrepreneur.

Kanan credited Larocque with being the sales “catalyst” that built Synnex into a distribution titan that merged with Tech Data in 2021 in a $7.2 billion deal. The merger created the world’s largest technology products distributor at what was then a $59.8 billion company.

Larocque was the driving force behind Synnex’s rise to prominence, said Kanan. “Peter is very purpose-driven. He analyzed you like he was taking an X-Ray of you and your body and mind, and then he would use his network of influence to drive the desired outcome—personal or professional—for whoever needed that benefit.”

That “network of influence” allowed Larocque to craft win-win-win deals in the sales trenches for TD Synnex, vendors and solution providers, said partners.

Larocque’s Legacy

Mike Kiani, president at MK Management, an $80 million MSP based in Irvine, Calif., said Larocque was unmatched in his ability to drive deep long-lasting relationships with partners by relentlessly improving the TD Synnex partner experience.

“We are going to miss Peter,” he said. “Whenever we needed help as a reseller we could count on him to be there. He was different than any other distribution executive I have known. He played an active part in helping partners close deals and grow the business.”

When Tech Data and Synnex merged, it was Larocque who worked the phones, calling partners to make sure that deals and partner relationships did not suffer as the two companies came together, said Kiani.

“Peter was on top of everything,” said Kiani. “He was always checking in with us looking for things that TD Synnex could do better to help us grow the business.”

Kiani said he is looking forward to working with Thompson to continue the strong relationship his company has with TD Synnex. His advice to Thompson: “Follow the same path that Peter did: listen to partners and continue to improve TD Synnex partner engagement.”

The Power Of Partner Engagement

Paul Benson, president and owner of Virtual Communication Specialists, Athens, Texas, and co-president of CommunitySolv, said he is excited by the changes that are sure to come with Thompson taking the top North America post.

“Reyna has always been successful in putting together a strong team,” he said. “I am excited that TD Synnex is finally announcing some changes and doing some new things. Reyna understands the power of partner engagement. That was the thing that Peter brought to the table: if you get partners involved with solutions then you are successful. I spoke with Reyna a couple of weeks ago at a council meeting, and we literally talked about partner engagement. When a reseller partners with TD Synnex, they are more successful. When you are just buying from them it is a transaction. She gets that it is all about solutions and getting partners engaged more. This is an excellent move to go do that.”

At the same time, Benson called Larocque a “fantastic leader” who will be missed by partners. “I don’t know how you ever replace Peter,” he said. “But bringing someone like Reyna who has been in the industry for many years and understands partner engagement is a smart move. We are looking forward to Reyna engaging with the CommunitySolv members to grow the engagement with partners.”

Benson said Thompson’s experience heading up the advanced solutions business unit overseeing AI, security, cloud and data center solutions will be key to driving the business forward.

“AI is the direction we’re all headed in,” said Benson. “That is the direction the world is going. I see this change as a good fit for partners as we look to build out our AI business.”

Bob Venero, CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Future Tech Enterprise, No. 76 on the CRN 2024 Solution Provider 500, said he is looking forward to working with Thompson to build out Future Tech’s distribution sales strategy.

“TD Synnex is one of our major distributors,” he said. “We look forward to having some fruitful conversations with the new leadership. The good thing is TD Synnex is appointing someone that has strong domain knowledge and experience in the business building long standing relationships in the organization and with partners.”

Venero called Larocque the “ultimate” distribution sales leader. “Peter knows how to create unique, jointly profitable deals for partners and TD Synnex,” he said. “Peter was a great deal maker. He will be missed.”

Venero urged Thompson to take an active role in communicating what the leadership change means for the distributor’s longstanding partners. “Communicate, communicate, communicate,” he said. “She needs to aggressively communicate what this change means to partners and how it is going to help drive strategies that drive sales growth for TD Synnex and its partners.”