Ingram Micro Program Assists Cloud Partners

A new program, "Seeding the Cloud," has been introduced by Santa Ana, California-based Ingram Micro, that will give reason for channel partners to migrate to the cloud; the announcement was made at the company's annual Cloud Summit. The new offering gives a structure for partners that will allow them to secure marketing dollars either via the distributor or participating vendors.

The vice president of managed services and cloud computing at Ingram Micro, Renee Bergeron, said: "The amount of money is decided on a case-by-case basis, based on the marketing plan that the partner would like to pursue. But we do have a structure and a set of templates in place that weighs how those resources will be used."

Webinars and channel events (like lunch-and-learns) have been targeted, but a number of other projects are also being considered.

Bergeron said: "There is no lock-in requirement through which participating partners are forced to run deals through Ingram Micro. But we do a lot to help our partners move their cloud strategies forward, plus we are working with the offerings of 170 vendors, so clearly we have a good case to be their one-stop shop for cloud-based services."

Ingram Micro's team firstly delivers funds, that follows up with the partners to make certain that funding recipients undertake and complete the project as arranged.

The director of cloud and managed services for Ingram Micro, Jason Bystrak, said: "We're very enthusiastic about the program, and we've been getting a lot of highly positive feedback from the partners. We've been piloting it for the last three to five months, and we can already see that it's going to be very successful."

Missisauga, Ontario-based reseller, AMA, is one among many partners that is enthusiastic about the new program; although AMA has not yet used the program, it is already planning for a proposal. The president of AMA, Daniel Cheng, said: "This demonstrates their commitment to the channel, as well as their commitment to cloud computing. This is all about shared risks and shared rewards. I'm already getting ideas for targeted lead generation initiatives, including webinars and events, and also for telemarketing and email initiatives." (CY) Link