Ingram Micro Adds Microsoft HoloLens 2 to Advanced Portfolio

Just a day ahead of Ingram Micro’s first-ever IoT Summit, Sept. 4-5 in Irvine, California, the distributor announced that it would globally market, sell and support Microsoft’s HoloLens 2.

Microsoft introduced the HoloLens 2 at MWC Barcelona in February. The latest mixed-reality device focuses on three key areas: immersion, comfort and time to value. Several Microsoft teams, such as Azure, HoloLens, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Devices, participated in the latest device development effort. The first HoloLens was introduced in 2016.

Ingram Micro’s Mike Zilis

“It’s an exciting time of innovation, collaboration and change across the IT industry — especially when it comes to IoT and immersive technologies where the business applications are growing exponentially,” said Mike Zilis, executive vice president and group president at Ingram Micro. “We’re seeing a growing demand for mixed reality and IoT in a variety of vertical markets across the globe. Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 brings vast business opportunities to the IT channel which will be supported as part of our global practice and our broader IoT go-to-market with our channel partners worldwide.”

Ingram Micro and Microsoft reached an agreement whereby the vendor will take a phased approach to marketing and selling the HoloLens 2 beginning in North America and select areas of EMEA and Asia Pacific.

Ingram Micro has been expanding its focus on advanced solutions and IoT, as well as technologies such AI, big data, and mixed reality. The new Microsoft portfolio is being supported by Ingram Micro’s global IoT practice, established in 2017. More recently, this past March, the distributor launched its IoT marketplace to help partners build an IoT practice. The initial launch covered 19 countries but by March 2020 Ingram Micro says its dedicated IoT resources will reach 30 countries.

“Ingram Micro’s integrated IoT and mixed reality strategy is aligned with Microsoft’s vision of intelligent edge and intelligent cloud computing, and will help us jointly enable businesses across the globe to work smarter using and learning from the experience HoloLens delivers,” said Matt Fleckenstein, head of mixed reality marketing at Microsoft.

The HoloLens 2 will be on display at the Ingram Micro IoT Summit.