Ingram Micro Partner 360: Big Opportunities Ahead In AI, PC Refresh, More

Hyperscaler marketplaces, AI and PC refresh represent massive opportunities for the channel, and Ingram Micro can help partners make the most of these opportunities.

That was the overall message at this week’s Ingram Micro Partner 360 in Phoenix. Ingram Micro has launched a new AI line card, which includes all of the AI products and services offered by the distributor.

Cheryl Rang, Ingram Micro’s vice president of technology solutions, said her company has numerous resources to assist partners with hyperscaler marketplaces, AI and PC refresh.

“We're going to help you be successful and take advantage of that opportunity with hyperscaler marketplaces,” she said. “Secondly, we know that AI is everywhere. It can be overwhelming. Think big, start small … you don't need to boil the ocean on everything, but there's ways that you can have an AI conversation with your end user tomorrow, and Ingram is going to be here to help you every step of the way.”

And PC refresh is going to be a “huge opportunity as we look forward for the next 12 months,” Rang said.

“Position it today so that your partners can be future proof for the opportunities that they have to drive that engagement with their teams moving forward,” she said.

Ingram Micro and Hyperscaler Marketplaces

John Dussett, Ingram Micro’s vice president of technology solutions, said hyperscaler marketplaces represent a new technology buying pattern in which end users buy their IT solutions directly.

“According to vendor data today, in the United States, there's somewhere between 3 [million] and 5 million businesses that have accounts with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and the committed spend that that set of customers have made on these hyperscaler marketplaces is now in the hundreds of billions of dollars,” he said. “And what's interesting is the purchases that they make for other IT solutions through those marketplaces count towards those committed dollars. So that's the emerging opportunity.”

Recent Canalys research estimates hyperscaler marketplace spending will reach $85 billion by the end of 2028.

“And that's not as far off as it sounds, because this year the estimated spend of end users buying IT solutions through hyperscaler marketplaces will be $25 billion, and that's up from just about $16 billion a year ago,” Dussett said. “So the opportunity is there. It might be a little bit like a large object in the distance in the dark right now, but we want to shed some light on it.”

Scroll through our slideshow above for more from Ingram Micro Partner 360.