Ingram Micro Trust X Alliance: Solving Problems, Not Selling Tech, Key to Partner Success
This is the first in-person Trust X Alliance event since before the pandemic.
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The discussion with a customer shouldn’t entail compiling a checklist of what they want in terms of the cloud or software/hardware they desire, said Ingram Micro’s Sanjib Sahoo.
“Start the discussion with how can we solve problems partnering with you to drive value,” he said. “Don’t start with technology. Technology comes a little later. You have to first focus on [identifying] your organization’s problems, an opportunity gap or performance gap. How are you staying ahead of the curve? What problems are you fixing? How do you want to change your customer experience? You create a business plan and then you fit in technology.”
Sahoo outlined four steps for a successful digital journey. First, identify and rally stakeholders and cascade that vision with employees at all levels. Next, create an execution plan that balances risk, current performance and future transformation.
Third, build an architecture for infinite business models through enhanced technology. And finally, provide governance to ensure your top initiatives are creating value.
“The digital journey relies on data to create and deliver greater business value,” Sahoo said. “DigiOps enables companies to move through the key stages of growth to digital maturity.”
In addition, the best digital transformations don’t have a start and an ending, he said.
Partners need to focus on value creation for customers, Sahoo said.
“And value creation means get a seat at the table with the customer to see how we can generate value,” he said. “We should sell value, not technology – how we can have the lens of a chief value officer without the title. Figure out how you can create value for them. If you focus on your customers like that, revenues will automatically come. Focus on solutions and solving problems.”
Darren Gottesmann, the new North America communities leader, said the Trust X Alliance is important because while members are similar, they require different ways of learning.
“You have the opportunity to sit with leaders around the world and learn about their business,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re solution providers, but we’re problem solvers and that’s what makes us a community. We have gone through so many natural disasters … and come together to help. We do good things; we come together — and that’s Trust X. Please talk to me, let me know what’s going on, your business and what we can do for you.”
Kirk Robinson is Ingram Micro‘s executive vice president and North America president. He told attendees Ingram Micro is intensely focused on improving customer experience (CX).
“The basis of CX is to deliver something nobody else can deliver, and if we do that, we capture the lion’s share of business,” he said.
Ingram Micro is helping partners improve CX by simplifying its business and looking at how to use data to give more to partners to generate more revenue and business, Robinson said.
“We’re very excited about where we’re going directionally with CX.” he said.
Mark Snider is Ingram Micro‘s executive vice president and EMEA president. He said as more companies are becoming multinational, it creates more opportunities for the Trust X Alliance.
“If a partner in the United Kingdom or Canada needs help from a U.S. partner, they can tap a Trust X partner,” he said. “By being a Trust X partner, you don’t have to be limited by borders. You can access best practices, thought leadership and a more worldly understanding of how technology is boxed, sold and serviced.”
Hans Mize is president of Data41 and Mark Essayian is CEO of KME Systems, both MSPs. They also serve on the Trust X Alliance advisory council.
Mize said the Trust X Alliance is emerging from the pandemic stronger.
“When I started, the pandemic was just starting out, so there was a lot of movement, a lot of reaction to how we get through the pandemic, how we engage, how we keep the community together, and how we make it meaningful,” he said. “Now that we’re on more of the tail end, I think those things are even more important now because we work in both a hybrid environment and we’re back to face to face. So how do you capitalize on everything that we learned being in that hybrid environment, that online engagement, and also augment that with how we engage face to face once again and create the same meaning we had before — overlaying those two so they’re interchangeable? So we actually have more opportunities for collaboration, especially when we’re apart. So meaningful engagement, value, taking advantage of everybody in the community, and the different mechanics that we can use because of the pandemic to make that a stronger community.”
Essayian said the primary driver of Trust X is improving the business.
“The ability for us to have thought leaders inside my organization talking to thought leaders inside of other organizations — think salespeople to salespeople, technical to technical people — and I’m not facilitating these conversations,” he said. “These people know who to reach out to. We had extensively experienced people helping us improve our process. I’m not going to say for free because everybody’s time is valuable, but they were committed to our success. And just like we’re committed to giving back as well, that’s where you really get the benefit of Trust X. You have people saying, ‘I want to help you succeed.'”
Steve Meek is CEO and founder of The Fulcrum Group, an MSP. He said when it comes to cybersecurity, there’s so much focus on the protection aspect, and not as much about what happens before and after.
“Don’t spend all your time with protect,” he said. “Make sure you’re going out to the edges to provide that true cybersecurity that organizations need. Just depending on tools won’t get you there.”
Someone in an MSP has to be mindful of threat intelligence 24/7, Meek said.
“An MSP needs to have a response team to say. ‘OK, this just came out, what are we going to do about it?” he said. “We’ve all got our tools that are deployed at the majority of our clients, but there may be a brand-new threat and there may not be a fix for it … so somebody has to own that within your organization. It’s unplanned, unassigned labor unless you have someone designated, watching threat intelligence, acting on that threat intelligence, and coming up with solutions across your organizations using whatever your stack happens to be.”
Steve Meek is CEO and founder of The Fulcrum Group, an MSP. He said when it comes to cybersecurity, there’s so much focus on the protection aspect, and not as much about what happens before and after.
“Don’t spend all your time with protect,” he said. “Make sure you’re going out to the edges to provide that true cybersecurity that organizations need. Just depending on tools won’t get you there.”
Someone in an MSP has to be mindful of threat intelligence 24/7, Meek said.
“An MSP needs to have a response team to say. ‘OK, this just came out, what are we going to do about it?” he said. “We’ve all got our tools that are deployed at the majority of our clients, but there may be a brand-new threat and there may not be a fix for it … so somebody has to own that within your organization. It’s unplanned, unassigned labor unless you have someone designated, watching threat intelligence, acting on that threat intelligence, and coming up with solutions across your organizations using whatever your stack happens to be.”
A big message for partners at this week’s Ingram Micro Trust X Alliance Invitational in Phoenix was solving customers’ problems rather than selling technology.
During his keynote, Sanjib Sahoo, Ingram Micro‘s executive vice president and chief digital officer, addressed solving customers’ problems and effective digital transformation.
This is the first in-person Trust X Alliance event since before the pandemic. Trust X includes more than 350 solution providers, Ingram Micro and technology vendors.
Ingram Micro is adding Trust X Alliance sales leaders globally, including a new North America communities leader, to guide further growth in the months ahead. The distributor appointed Darren Gottesmann to executive director of sales for the United States. He’s been with Ingram Micro for more than 19 years and most recently was executive director of SMB sales.
This summer, Ingram Micro is piloting its new Xvantage platform for channel partners, and Ingram Micro employees and suppliers, in the United States and Germany. Ingram Micro will then roll out Xvantage globally during the remainder of 2022 and throughout 2023.
Solving Problems Brings New Solutions
The spirit of continuously understanding customers’ problems and challenges is the key to partners’ growth and success moving forward, Sahoo said.
Ingram Micro’s Sanjib Sahoo
“It makes our partners bring new solutions to our customers,” he said. “And it creates stickiness to the customers because technology will change and come, but your spirit of solving problems, learning new things and bringing that together for the customers — that idea and knowledge set is the value. It creates that true trust between the partner and the customer that, ‘OK, we have a trusted partner to solve our problems for our value creation of the company.’ That’s when you create that stickiness. That’s when you create that true partnership, and then technology follows.”
That changes from a one-time transaction to fulfill technology to an “actually sticky scenario” where you continuously create value, Sahoo said.
Scroll through our slideshow above for more from Ingram Micro Trust X Alliance Invitational.
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