COVID-19 Prompts More Responses from Ingram Micro, LogMeIn, More

As the number of new coronavirus cases continue to climb, an increasing number of companies in the channel are coming forward with programs and solutions to help partners and customers stay afloat.

Responding to the financial constraints and market challenges U.S. and Canadian SMBs are facing, Ingram Micro has unveiled two new partner financing programs extending $110 million in additional credit to about 2,000 channel partners across North America, temporarily waiving any fees associated with the majority of its partner financing program and exclusive terms to members of its Trust X Alliance and SMB Alliance communities.

Anthony Mackle, Ingram Micro’s senior vice president and chief financial office for the United States and Latin America, tells Channel Partners there’s going to be a slowdown in the payment process of customers getting paid by end users.

Ingram Micro’s Anthony Mackle

“We know this is going to happen and we’re seeing very small pockets of this, but believe this is going to expand if [businesses] stay shut down,” he said. “This is going to be tough; they need our help and we’re going to be there for them.”

The programs are designed to help businesses that are exploding because of the pandemic, such as health care, as well as those that are losing revenue from shutting down, Mackle said.

Available immediately in the United States and Canada, Ingram Micro’s new KickStart Financing and Future Funds programs allow channel partners additional cash flow options to finance the technology, services and support needed in real-time, allowing for more complete solutions to be sold together.

In addition, the Future Funds program is offered with interest-only payments for six months and starting payments as low as 1.5% of the total purchase price. At month seven, the customer is presented a choice to pay off the balance or finance for an additional 12-60 months.

“We have the expertise and solutions we need to help our clients regardless of the business climate, and now we have even more flexibility on how we can manage our cash flow,” said Mark Essayian, president of KME Systems, a Trust X Alliance member.

Also, LogMeIn has expanded its Emergency Remote Work Kit offerings to include GoToConnect, the company’s cloud phone and unified communications and collaboration (UCC) platform, to help K-12 schools make the shift to remote learning.

Under the expanded offering, K-12 schools will be eligible for free cloud phone and UCC services through the end of the school year via LogMeIn’s GoToConnect platform. The new offering is designed for schools to keep students, teachers, parents, administrators and staff connected with free soft phones, voice and video calling, and messaging that can be used on PCs, Macs, Chromebooks and mobile phones (iOS and Android). And unlike traditional phone systems, no hardware, networking or number porting is required.

Aimed at both customers and critical service providers like schools, hospitals and health care companies, municipalities and non-profit organizations, LogMeIn launched the complementary Emergency Remote Work Kit program earlier this month in response to the pandemic with the goal of helping customers and critical service providers accelerate efforts to keep their employees, students and citizens safe by shifting to remote work.

Under the expanded offering, K-12 schools will be eligible for …

… free cloud phone and UCC services through the end of the school year via LogMeIn’s GoToConnect platform.

Paul Gentile, LogMeIn’s senior director of product marketing for UCC, said his company’s primary sales channel for GoToConnect is through its partners and they will be able to extend this offer for K-12 to their networks.

LogMeIn’s Paul Gentile

“We have heard from our partners that they wanted an avenue to help the parts of their networks most in need, such as K-12,” he said. “We recognized that we were in a unique position to do that through the remote work technology LogMeIn makes. For K-12, we thought it was important to offer our full UCC platform with GoToConnect to not only provide audio and video meetings, but also cloud telephony so they could use the technology across their organizations to maintain business continuity and keep the lines of communication open during this uncertain time.”

Over the last month, LogMeIn has seen usage of its GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar product lines grow as entire populations shift to remote work and the number of users is increasing daily.

Also Tuesday, RedSky Technologies announced it is offering a 60-day complementary Enhanced 911 service designed specifically for organizations deploying remote worker programs. The solution will include RedSky’s national cloud-based E911 solutions, E911 Anywhere and MyE911. Combined, they will provide location identification and proper routing for new work-at-home workers and travelers dialing 911 from company-provided devices and softphones outside the office.

RedSky’s E911 solutions can help transition organizations to a decentralized environment, while keeping them protected and compliant with newly enacted federal E911 legislation. RedSky works with business partners and resellers.

“Our commitment to public safety has always been the core of our business, and in light of the current pandemic, we want to ensure that all organizations are able to provide E911 protection for their employees quickly and cost-effectively,” said Tony Maier, RedSky’s president.

In addition, PTC, a global computer software and services company, is offering two solutions for free to industrial customers and educators.

Vuforia Chalk enables remote workers to engage collaboratively with each other from home or anywhere else leveraging augmented reality. Onshape helps address challenges related to remote learning, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education by giving teachers and students a tool that enables them to collaborate on design and engineering projects over the internet.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, normal business that is typically done by many of PTC’s customers is being pushed aside as these companies prioritize activity that helps them respond to the crisis. Some organizations are dealing with country-wide lockdown, some are consolidating and others are refitting or prioritizing production to produce critical supplies as soap, hand sanitizer and masks, the company said.

PTC said it is committed to supporting them every step of the way as they navigate these new challenges.