Ingram Micro Unveils Microsoft Surface, Other Devices On Cloud Marketplace Under Annuity Model

Ingram Micro has rolled out the Microsoft Surface and Surface Pro and the NCR Silver point-of-sale system on its Cloud Marketplace to help partners easily bundle devices and cloud services.

The Irvine, Calif.-based distributor said putting devices such as Microsoft Surface and NCR Silver point-of-sale system on its marketplace will help solution providers avoid commoditization by making it possible to sell holistic offerings through an e-commerce storefront. This means that the channel can procure and resell the Surface Pro and cloud services in a single shopping cart or order.

"Cloud is one piece of a bigger business solution," Renee Bergeron, Ingram Micro's senior vice president of global cloud, told CRN. "We're starting to add the devices that our partners need into the marketplace so that they can create real turnkey business solutions."

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Microsoft Surface initially will be available through the Cloud Marketplace in just Australia and New Zealand, Ingram Micro said, and will roll out to other locations later in the year. Microsoft Surface will only be available to partners authorized by Microsoft, Bergeron said, and unauthorized partners will not be able to market, sell or support it through the Cloud Marketplace.

Microsoft Surface and Surface Pro are also available on Ingram Micro's general line card outside the Cloud Marketplace, according to the company. The commercial product sells very well, Ingram Micro said, and the distributor is currently launching the consumer line.

Solution providers can resell Microsoft Surface and NCR Silver through either a one-time purchase or a monthly as-a-service-type arrangement. Device refresh is not currently included in the monthly subscription model, but Bergeron said Ingram Micro plans to look at incorporating that in the future.

"Depending on the way the partner wants to bill the solution for the customer, options are available," Bergeron said.

Adding devices to the Cloud Marketplace will boost partner efficiency by allowing them to get all the pieces they need in one consolidated invoice, Bergeron said. It also will enable solution providers to offer complete solutions to customers on e-commerce storefronts based on the Ingram Micro marketplace, she said.

"The more the resellers or partners are able to bundle these solutions, the less commoditization they're exposed to," Bergeron said.

Ingram Micro started with Microsoft Surface and NCR Silver since they were the most in-demand hardware devices based on partner feedback and business use, Bergeron said. And the distributor said it plans to expand the device portfolio available through its Cloud Marketplace in the months ahead.

"These are the first ones, but you'll see a lot more," Bergeron said.

Bundling devices and cloud services also will make it easier for the channel to build Internet of Things-focused offerings, Bergeron said. Channel partners focusing on the agricultural vertical could, for instance, create a solution where workers capture information in the field on IoT-enabled devices and then push that data into the cloud to maximize productivity and gain sales and revenue insight.

Weidenhammer Systems said customers are clamoring to convert capital expenses into operational expenses, meaning that Ingram Micro's ability to facilitate the leasing of computing components to customers for a monthly fee will be a major plus, according to John Weidenhammer, president of the Reading, Pa.-based company.

But Weidenhammer said the success of the program will depend on how inexpensively Ingram Micro can buy the devices and how much profit margin and services return the distributor and participating channel partners expect.

Weidenhammer thinks it will be difficult for both Ingram Micro and channel partners to have margins that are sufficient for making Hardware-as-a-Service viable. But if Ingram Micro has figured how to cost-effectively provide devices on a subscription basis, Weidenhammer said his company is fully prepared to take advantage of the opportunity.

"I think the idea is terrific, and it's something that end users want," Weidenhammer said. "But the proof is going to be in the price point."