What You Missed At Ingram Micro ONE Fall 2015

By The Business Solutions Network

Last week I was one of 2,000 people who attended the Ingram Micro ONE fall conference in Nashville. I have 10 full pages of notes from the event. Following are some highlights I thought you’d find valuable, along with my commentary.

• In Q1 2016, Ingram Micro (IM) is launching a new channel referral program for the cloud. As Ingram executives explain it, there are some resellers out there who don’t want to make the cloud part of their business model. Rather than simply miss out on the revenue opportunity, Ingram’s new program will allow its partners to pass the cloud business on to the distributor and earn a monthly residual for the effort. IM will handle support and invoicing. This model can help technology-lagging resellers by leaning on Ingram for support while they get up to speed. At that point, the business can shift back to the solutions provider. Quick fact: IM has 800 employees dedicated to its cloud initiatives. Half are developers.
• IM has made some changes to its SMB Alliance community. In 2015, Ingram Micro dedicated more personnel to the SMB Alliance, introduced new leadership, and focused the SMB Alliance council on leading sub-committees that emphasize and capitalize on high opportunities areas within the SMB market such as cloud services, professional services, and vertical markets. New community features and benefits added this year include the availability of member business reviews conducted at the Ingram Micro ONE event by The 2112 Group, access to Ingram Micro subject matter experts across categories including cloud, professional services, verticals and asset disposition, and new marketing, sales, and business resources
• IM showed off its new Trust X Alliance, a community for top-performing solutions providers. Previously recognized as the VentureTech Network (VTN), the Trust X Alliance helps solution providers grow their businesses through exclusive offers, services, and relationships with key vendor and reseller contacts. Beginning in 2016, the Trust X Alliance will focus on building vertical market expertise within the community and welcome select members of the Ingram Micro Public Sector Elite and Healthcare Elite. These specialized communities will enable a stronger vertical markets focus within Trust X Alliance and build on the founding principles and best practices of the community.
• Security! Much of what I heard at the event reminded me of how important security has become. In fact, some MSPs are now leading with that service as opposed to BDR. Consider that there are more devices than ever, generating more business data than ever. At the same time, apps like Dropbox have punched holes in networks and left many businesses exposed to information leaking out and threats coming in. IM announced a partnership with Dropbox with the goal of helping VARs get endpoints off of the consumer version of Dropbox and onto the business version which can be centrally managed. Additionally, IM is looking to address social engineering-type security threats. Even the best security solutions can’t withstand ignorant users who will click on anything. IM is putting together content to help its partners educate their customers on this problem.
• IM has a lot of business intelligence to share. Years ago I heard from Ingram executives that the company had an initiative to leverage its drop shipment data to inform its VAR/MSP partners where opportunities might exist. I followed up at this event with Paul Bay, executive VP and chief executive, Ingram Micro U.S., and he reaffirmed this message. He explained that 80 to 90 percent of IM orders are drop shipped and that data is being used to help vendors and resellers. In fact, the success seen in the United States has caused the distributor to extend this program to a global level. With this data, refresh opportunities can be identified, vetted, and then warm leads passed on to Ingram partners.
• Training and education opportunities abound. First, IM announced a new collaboration with the University of Phoenix. According to the news announcement, “this new program empowers Ingram Micro channel partners at every level of the organization – from technician to top executive – to advance their knowledge and skills through higher education and training.” We’re not just talking technical certifications here, but legit degree programs. For those IT providers large on technical skills but lacking in the formal business training, this could be a great opportunity. Discounts on the program are based on your level of relationship with IM.