Microsoft Office 365 Highlights Ingram Micro Cloud Summit

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PHOENIX — Supporting its theme, “Where Rainmakers Thrive,” tech-distribution giant Ingram Micro at its Cloud Summit on Monday unveiled a number of new services and program enhancements designed to help channel partners succeed.

The biggest involves Microsoft Office 365, which is now available in the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace. Its differentiator, the company says, is the opportunity for Ingram’s partners in the U.S. and Canada to directly provision and offer unique Office 365 bundles. They can set their own prices and invoice monthly.

The Cloud Marketplace is designed to help partners extend the sales cycle, noted Renee Bergeron, vice president, global cloud computing, Ingram Micro.

“You want to sell once and invoice forever,” Bergeron told the crowd at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa. “This allows our resellers to have a more direct relationship with their customers while maintaining the flexibility to bundle their offering with solutions from Ingram Micro or other leading cloud service providers.”

Partners who sell Office 365 through the Cloud Marketplace get access to the SkyKick Office 365 Migration Suite and the Ingram Micro Service Desk. SkyKick aims to simply and speed up the sales and migration process to Office 365 for channel partners by giving them access to the company’s project automation technology. At the same time, those who choose not to staff the around-the-clock support desk that Microsoft requires, have access to the Ingram Micro Service Desk. It can be integrated with common PSAs such as AutoConnect and ConnectWise.

“It’s a great example of where Ingram Micro can truly become an extension of your support organizations, allowing you to scale your business while extending quality support to your customers,” Gabriel Ballo, senior sales manager, cloud, Ingram Micro, told the crowd. “Use your Level 1 IT staff during the day and turn it over [seamlessly] to Ingram Micro IT pros at night.”

Not only is customer support available, but so too are fully automated ordering and provisioning. Other distributors must place manual orders for their partners, the company said.

Ingram Micro also highlighted its new Cloud Ignite Services, which provide support …

… directly to partners themselves, who get a single point of contact for any cloud service purchased through the Cloud Marketplace. It aims to assist channel partners with the implementation of cloud-based solutions, including a free Level 2 service desk and assistance with migration and onboarding needs.

“Ingram Micro is the first master cloud service provider to offer a true, online consumption model for Office 365 that is backed by a suite of migration services and a dedicated service desk,” added Bergeron, explaining further how the distributor is trying to differentiate itself from other distributors that offer Office 365.

Ingram also is trying to set itself apart with Cloud Elevate, its new partner loyalty program that gives partners discounted education, enablement services and more that are designed to accelerate cloud sales and profitability. One of those incentives is a $150 credit for any partner who signs up by March 31. The rewards come via a large group of third-party vendors.

Some of those new Cloud Marketplace vendors, introduced on Monday, are Acronis, Cirius, McAfee, Nomadesk, RingCentral and TrendMicro.

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