Most cloud or SaaS vendors know that ease of procurement does not automatically imply ease of deployment, implementation and use of software or services. End customers also need assistance with support and training that only channel pros can provide. And for the distributor selling multiple products and services from multiple vendors in an average solution, getting products to work together adds even more complexity. At Ingram Micro our goal is to minimize that complexity, making the process much easier and more seamless all the way to the end user on behalf of our channel partners.  

THE POWER OF THE CHANNEL 

At Cloud Summit 2022 in Miami Beach, Florida, our SVP of Cloud Channel Sales, Victor Baez, spoke not only about growth in the channel, but also about partner growth due to the channel. During the past two years the IaaS and PaaS services market grew by more than 80% according to Gartner, and the cloud services market is now estimated to be more than $500B. Over this same period, end user spending for SaaS increased by more than 40%. It is predicted that by 2024, more than 80% of applications will be running natively on IaaS or PaaS environments. Channel partners have benefited tremendously from this growth. For the past year nearly 40% of our partners have either (a) doubled their business or (b) crossed beyond 2X and tripled their business with Ingram Micro Cloud! 

THE POWER OF MORE 

Not only are partners transacting more through us, but they are also growing their businesses with us. We are not stopping here. A few of the initiatives we are working on to bring more enablement to the channel include: 

Customer Success and Retention 

Customer retention is key to maintaining a strong Net Revenue Retention (NRR) metric. When NRR exceeds 100% consistently, the compounding effect over time accumulates exponentially. For example, if you compare companies with NRRs of 100% to companies with NRRs greater than 110%, over 5 years, the 110-plus group grows 45% faster. 

Ingram Micro is partnering with Gainsight, a leading customer success platform, to use internally as well as to launch additional functionality in our Cloud Marketplace to help our partners retain their customers better. We have also improved retention in 2021 by insourcing our customer support and building a world-class customer success organization. Our global Customer Success Organization, of over 250 associates, works with our partners with the objective of getting all of us reach above the 110% Net Revenue Retention mark. 

Channel Ecosystem 

The channel ecosystem is inherently complex; however, distribution by Ingram Micro Cloud eliminates the complexity of licensing, fulfillment, ordering, provisioning, implementing, and managing multiple solutions that vendors cannot deliver alone to hundreds of thousands of partners. To scale beyond just partners to serve millions of end-customers, our ability to take out complexity for our partners is a key differentiator against our largest competitor, direct sales. 

What about hyperscalers? We will be curating the offers of, providing access to, these marketplaces through the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace. Your end customers will be able to get the relevant applications and solutions they want in the same way they get everything else: through their trusted channel partner and creating opportunities for more growth for you. 

Adding to the need for less complexity are the requirements of the newer generations in the workforce. As Millennials and Gen Z become managers and move into decision making positions, they bring a distinct set of expectations. By managing complexity internally through distribution, we help our partners deliver solutions to these digital natives in a seamless way.  

“Our operating model is simple: leverage our joint customer success organization to drive adoption, tackle complexity with our ecosystem capabilities and integrate our partnership through an automated yet insightful data platform that differentiates us from all go to market models, including DIRECT.”   

Dashboard and Insights 

We are making our Cloud Marketplace platform stronger, more automated, more integrated, and more insightful than ever. How? By leveraging our unrivalled access to data. Ingram Micro reaches 90% of the world’s population through our services, and we are preparing to leverage this unique asset in ways that will provide to you data-driven recommendations tailored to your business. Even if you do not use the marketplace, you will be able to leverage our new dashboard and insights functionality through integrations with your existing PSA tools, CRM systems, and accounting software platforms. 

THE POWER OF INGRAM MICRO PARTNERSHIP

We exist to be the “business behind your success,” and we are confident in our ability to continuously strengthen the channel and enable our partners to grow their businesses. We are investing more in customer success and customer retention, in our ecosystem, and in technology—to help you realize a Future of Even More. As Victor said in his keynote speech, “We're here in the Magic City to focus on one thing: growth. Cloud Summit 22 is about a future of even more business, even more opportunities, and even more success!” 

Don’t forget to join us at Cloud Summit next year in 2023! Learn more about the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace and let us power your business.