Ingram Micro teams with Microsoft on cloud offering
Ingram Micro is looking to the cloud after it outlined its support for Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).
According to Ingram (IM), 70 percent of Microsoft’s (MSFT) developers are already working on cloud initiatives and are hosting their own Unified Communications products, under the Online Services brand – with more products on the way, including Office Web Apps, Dynamics CRM and Windows Intune.
As part of the collaboration, the distributor will offer a dedicated website, trained sales team, marketing and training resources to resellers to enable them to understand Cloud Computing technology and market it more effectively to their customers.
“Microsoft’s cloud offering of Online Services is a new and exciting opportunity for the channel that helps enable the transition of organisations towards dynamic IT in a more cost effective manner,” explains Apay Obang-Oyway, head of category (Software and Mobility) at Ingram Micro. “Microsoft Online Services also has the ability to help channel partners achieve ‘stickability’ with their end customers by truly becoming their ‘Trusted Advisor’.”
Adds Obang-Oyway: “The Microsoft Online Services opportunity should not be considered in isolation, rather more as a complementing opportunity to adding value across the entire estate as it can and will help IT budgets stretch further by allowing for investments on the hardware and software aspect of an estate if approached correctly.”
“Online Services represent a huge range of opportunities for our partners to embrace,” says Clare Barclay, director of Strategy and Programmes at Microsoft. “Initiatives like this, driven by innovative, forward thinking will help to provide a comprehensive support framework for our partners to make the most out of the cloud computing opportunity.”
