Partners Cheer Paul Bay’s ‘Well Deserved’ Appointment As Ingram Micro CEO

“This is a well deserved recognition for a job well done by Paul,” said Ron Dupler, CEO of GreenPages, which won the Ingram Micro Cloud Partner Award for 2021. “Paul Bay is the right guy at the right time. He has been doing a great job driving Ingram Micro forward for 24 years. It’s a great move on the part of Ingram.”

Paul Bay’s appointment as CEO of Ingram Micro is a ‘well deserved’ recognition of the 24 year Ingram Micro veteran’s channel and technology acumen and ability to develop strong relationships with partners, solution providers said.

“This is a well deserved recognition for a job well done by Paul,” said Ron Dupler, CEO of GreenPages, which won the Ingram Micro Cloud Partner Award for 2021. “Paul Bay is the right guy at the right time. He has been doing a great job driving Ingram Micro forward for 24 years. It’s a great move on the part of Ingram. I am thrilled for him.”

Ingram Micro announced Wednesday that Bay, who started in the company’s U.S, sales organization in 1995 and worked his way up to the top job, is replacing Alain Monie, who after 10 years at the helm will become executive chairman.

Dupler said he expects Bay, who has been overseeing the North America business for the last nine years, to continue to help chart the course for partners to deliver a new era of next generation technology solutions for the $50 billion distribution behemoth.

“The future of Ingram Micro is in good hands with Paul,” said Dupler. “Ingram is already the distribution leader in the cloud, but I see Paul driving leading edge new technologies like 5G and robotic process automation into the market with partners. With Paul leading the way, Ingram is going to bring partners into the future with a new wave of digital technologies.”

Among the other changes taking hold with the appointment of Bay is the departure of Nimesh Dave, who has overseen the Ingram Micro cloud business for the last seven years.

Dave, who is currently executive vice president and president, Global Cloud, will transition out of that role and leave the company over the next few months, Ingram Micro said.

Bay , who was named one of the top 25 Most Influential executives on CRN’s 2021 Top 100 Executive list, will take over direct management of the Ingram Micro cloud business in addition to his CEO duties.

What’s more, Ingram said 28-year company veteran Kirk Robinson, who was heading up the U.S. business, will be promoted to executive vice president and president of North America.

Rick Chernick, CEO of Camera Corner Connecting Point, an ACP CreativIT company, said there is no bigger channel champion than Bay.

“Paul Bay has earned that CEO job,” said Chernick who has known Bay for 24 years. “He deserves it. It is a tribute for a job well done. I am glad they chose Paul and didn’t hire someone from outside the company. Paul understands the business and the resellers. He is a true champion for partners. We know we can count on Paul. He really understands what it means to be a solution provider and the value that we bring to the marketplace. He’s a friend to partners.”

Chernick called Bay a top notch executive who has a knack for building long lasting relationships with partners.

“Paul has always been accessible to partners,” he said. “If you have a problem Paul will pick up the phone and get it resolved for you. I am just happy he got this opportunity. He deserves it. He’sa great professional with high integrity. He’s an honest, wonderful human being who I consider a good friend, a great family man, father and husband. I wish him great success. I know he’ll do a tremendous job.”

Bay has been heir apparent for some time, said Dao Jensen, CEO of Oak Rocket, an Austin, Texas-based cloud focused solution provider known until late last year as Kaizen.

Jensen, who said her company works specifically with Ingram Micro’s cloud business and last year was awarded the distributor’s Most Valuable Player award on cloud, will be closely watching to see if Ingram Micro will bring more resources to its cloud offerings under Bay.

“Paul is a sales guy at heart,” Jensen told CRN. “The move to put the cloud business directly under him will hopefully put more resources on the cloud side. I’m hoping we don’t see much in the way of change other than to bring in more resources and not let old-style programs around things like invoicing and billing impede growth.

Jensen said she will miss Dave who was a very charismatic leader of Ingram Micro’s cloud business.“Nimesh was very entrepreneurial,” she said. “Cloud was only a $3 billion to $4 billion business at Ingram Micro compared to overall revenue of $50 billion or so. But Nimesh brought in a great team. He brought in [Vice President of Ingram’s Global IAAS Cloud Channel] Tim FitzGerald. And Tim was the reason I moved to Ingram Micro.”

Frank Vitagliano, CEO of the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC), a consortium of distributors, including Ingram Micro, that drive more than $150 billion in annual technology solution sales, congratulated both Monie and Bay on their new roles.

“Alain deserves a lot of credit for bringing Ingram Micro into the digital transformation era and taking the company through some very significant transactions,” said Vitagliano.

As for Bay, he has “an incredible knowledge of the distribution business from the ground up,” said Vitagliano. “Paul has worked his way up, starting as a product manager 24 years ago. He knows every role at Ingram and he is just a great guy who is an open, honest and good person.”

Bay’s ability to develop “strong relationships” at both the solution provider and vendor level is going to pay off as he takes the CEO job, said Vitagliano. “It matters when you develop relationships like Paul and you are consistently viewed as honest, open and trustworthy,” he said. “Paul does what he says he is going to do. That matters and that is sustainable. Paul has been doing that for 24 years. His appointment is extraordinarily well deserved. It speaks volumes for the industry. Ingram is lucky to have him.”