Ingram Micro Cloud Automates Virtual Windows Desktop On New Samsung Galaxy Note Devices

Ingram Micro Cloud has struck a first-of-its-kind deal with Samsung and Amazon Web Services to automate the setup of virtual Windows desktops for the Galaxy Note8 and Galaxy S8.

The Irvine, Calif.-based distributor will put an image of the laptop in the cloud using Amazon WorkSpaces, enabling end users to access the desktop on their smartphone devices, according to Renee Bergeron, Ingram Micro's senior vice president of global cloud.

"There's a demand in the market for the ability to have access to your entire files, application and setup regardless on the device you're working on," Bergeron told CRN. "We think there's a big market here."

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Starting later this year, Bergeron said Ingram Micro's U.S. channel partners would be able to procure pre-bundled virtual Windows desktops on the Galaxy Note8 or S8, in a self-service fashion, using the distributor's Cloud Marketplace, Bergeron said. More than 45,000 Ingram Micro resellers are on the Cloud Marketplace today, Bergeron, supporting millions of customer seats.

Before Ingram Micro's enablement, Bergeron said solution providers would have needed to purchase Samsung phones and ancillary devices, get a subscription to Amazon WorkSpaces, and manually set up the Desktop as a Service functionality.

Configuring Amazon WorkSpaces on their own could be a bit complicated for some channel partners since it would require selecting bundles, creating a directory, and enabling users in that directory, according to the company.

The distributor's automation capabilities, though, will greatly simplify the process for channel partners, Bergeron said, saving time and money in the process. Ingram Micro has long been focused on streamlining access to that solution rather than forcing channel partners to figure it out on their own.

Cloud Marketplace customers will be able to leverage Ingram's Micro intellectual property free of charge, according to Bergeron, meaning that the cost of this bundle would be the same as buying each of the components separately. The monthly subscription fee for Amazon WorkSpaces starts at $7.50 per month.

Ingram Micro is the first distributor to bring to market a joint Samsung and Amazon offering that supports Microsoft's Windows Desktop as a Service, Bergeron said. It is aimed at mobile workers that don't have access to a laptop all of the time but want to be able to tap into that full range of capabilities while on the go, she said.

The new offering will enable Ingram Micro partners with Samsung practices to move beyond managing endpoint access and truly get into productivity, Bergeron said. Facilitating smartphone access to the Microsoft productivity suite will make it easier for solution providers to sell security and mobile device management services to their customers, according to Bergeron.

The bundle is also expected to appeal to partners that have customers using Amazon's Infrastructure-as-a-Service or backup and recovery tool as a way to migrate them into the Desktop as a Service space, according to Bergeron.

Ingram Micro plans to promote Cloud Marketplace functionality around the Samsung/Amazon bundle through a variety of marketing tools such as webinars, events, and regular communication with partners, Bergeron said. The bundle should make it easier for partners to bring virtual Windows desktop to net new partners as well as go deeper with existing end customers, according to Bergeron.

Partners should expect to see Ingram Micro leverage its architecture and engineering capabilities to automate the setup of virtual Windows desktop around additional mobile devices, Bergeron said.