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In the span of the past 26 years, Arthur Rhein has seen a plethora of changes in the IT industry: He joined Agilysys in 1981 as vice president of the Northeast region, when Agilysys bought his former employer, Harvey Electronics. He experienced Agilysys' subsequent continued success in distribution, and he then presided over Agilysys' divestiture of that distribution business in its quest to become a $1.5 billion solution provider within three years.
That distribution business made up more than $1 billion of its annual revenue. Last year, Agilysys sold off the remaining portions of it to Arrow Electronics, raising nearly $400 million. Here, Rhein, chairman of the board, CEO and president of Agilysys, discusses the decision to sell the lucrative distribution business, maintaining partner relationships and helping employees deal with change.
VARBusiness: Agilysys sold off the distribution business last year to Arrow. What went into...