Ingram Micro VTN: What's The Strategy For Cloud?

By Gennifer Biggs, security, storage, and managed services editor

There has been no shortage of cloud talk at the spring Ingram Micro VTN Invitation in Chicago. (OK, we may have gotten through the Sunday night kickoff reception without any talk of cloud, but that is about it …) On Monday, April 11, the topic was covered by IBM, HP, and Gartner. Ingram Micro's Renee Bergeron, VP of Managed Services and Cloud, tackled the specifics of Ingram Micro's cloud strategy, and did so with lighthearted humor.

The Ingram Cloud Strategy presentation started with a great video that features members of the Ingram Micro cloud team poking fun at the channel's inability to firmly define the cloud. (Check it out!) Bergeron got serious after the video, covering everything from a brief overview of the distributor's definition of cloud to how it fits into the channel's solutions offerings.

As part of that overview, Bergeron highlighted the three key value propositions of cloud, including agility — instant access to the computing power and scale that customers' need and speed time to market for businesses — computing as a utility — you pay for what you consume — and ubiquity — computing power accessible anywhere for anyone at anytime. For those channel IT providers still struggling with cloud and its place in their customers' environments, considering those value propositions is a clear starting place.

Also on the agenda was a teasing look at what the Ingram Micro partner ecosphere can expect from the cloud and managed services division in the next few months. Bergeron laid out a plan for Ingram Micro to further establish its cloud partner community, primarily through its website www.ingrammicrocloud.com. The distributor also stressed its desire to lead the way to the cloud by aggregating solutions and vendor partnerships to support partners addition of cloud offerings, much the way it did with its managed services offering, Ingram Micro Seismic. "We want to try to take the burden off our partners as they work toward adding cloud offerings," explains Bergeron. Among its cloud partners are NetEnrich, Nimsoft, Level Platforms, Intermedia, Autotask, IBM, McAfee, Citrix, Trend Micro, Rackspace, CA, and VaultLogix. Bergeron also announced several new partnerships, including those with IBM and Intermedia, as well as Fujitsu and SonicWall.

Ingram Micro will further expound on its cloud strategy at the upcoming Ingram Micro Cloud Summit, slated for June 1-2 in Phoenix. Listen as Bergeron outlines the plan for that summit.