Ingram Micro's Paul Bay Takes North American Helm

Paul Bay, acting president of Ingram Micro North America 11-2012

Bay told me that resellers and channel partners won’t feel any bumps along the way as he moves into his new role. That’s because Bay and Bradley mapped out Ingram Micro’s strategy together, and that’s the strategy that Bay will be taking forward.

However, the plan is designed to address the challenges faced by partners and to take advantage of the opportunities ahead in areas such as cloud computing, mobile technology and vertical markets.

“I’m excited about the opportunities in front of us,” Bay told me. “We’ll continue to be focused on market opportunities for resellers and partners. How do they transition in this new market and rely on distribution to augment and supplement their businesses?”

The Divisional Structure Reorg

One of the changes Ingram Micro embarked on since Bay returned to the fold in 2010 was a new divisional structure. Bay says that structure helped the company to be really focused and specialized, putting resources into the channel around these areas and other such as SMBs.  It also included the addition of 200 more field reps.  “We are putting resources into these specialties,” he said. “Managed print is another area we’ve been focused on.”

The divisional structure re-evaluated the investment Ingram Micro was making on how to go to market and how the company could gain access to high-value solutions. “We embedded customers who had a propensity to lead with certain technologies.” That approach gave Ingram Micro access to more high-value technology such as IBM PureSystems and HP’s integrated stack play, according to Bay.

The Big Trends for 2013

For 2013 Bay says Ingram Micro will continue to help partners adopt and move into the cloud. Some of the challenges ahead will include shifts in how technology is delivered, specifically around software, license, and loud-type product offerings in a service model.

Keith Bradley

Bay joined Ingram Micro’s U.S. sales organization in 1995 and progressed through roles of increasing responsibility. In 2006, Bay left his position as senior vice president of vendor management at Ingram Micro to become chief executive officer of Punch Software, based in Kansas City, Mo. Bay returned to Ingram Micro in June 2010 to assume the position of executive vice president, with responsibilities for the company’s North American partner-facing activities and Canadian operations.