Ingram Micro Adds New Cloud Services; Bullish On Channel's Role

The announcement was made at the Ingram Micro Cloud Summit, under way this week in Phoenix, Ariz.

To further help partners make the transition toward cloud services and managed services, Ingram Micro has also kicked off a new hardware-as-a-service (HaaS) program, through which channel partners can resell packages of hardware, software and cloud-based services for a monthly fee without the need for a large upfront investment. The initial rollout of this program includes bundles of Microsoft office with laptops from Lenovo and HP, but additional options are expected to be rolled out before the end of the year.

[Related: Ingram Micro's Cloud Summit: A How-To For Business Transformation ]

In addition, a number of cloud-based services have also been announced and are expected to be brought online within the next 30 days.

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These include enterprise-class business intelligence platforms from Birst, enterprise content collaboration solutions from Box, eSignature transaction management software from DocuSign, email management solutions from Reflexion, cloud-based telephony through RingCentral, and the Vistara IT Operations Platform, which can be used to assist in the SaaS-based provisioning of public and private clouds. A pair of healthcare-specific applications will also be available through partnerships with Medweb and NextGen Healthcare. In addition, channel partners will be able to resell colocation services through CyrusOne.

"Business leaders may not understand how the cloud works, but they do understand what it means for their companies," said Renee Bergeron, vice president of managed services and cloud computing for Ingram Micro North America. "We're seeing an increasing level of involvement for channel partners over the last few years. In 2010, partners were involved in only 2 percent of cloud service transactions, and that number is now up to 20 percent. We expect it to grow even higher as time goes on."

In addition to the new services, the Santa Ana, Calif.-based distributor has also launched a new enablement program, called "Seeding the Cloud," through which the company intends to provide go-to-market resources for partners moving toward the cloud.

PUBLISHED APRIL 9, 2013