Google Workspace’s resonance with SMB and start-up businesses was a key factor in Ingram Micro’s decision to partner with the hyperscaler.
That is according to Scott Murphy, Ingram Micro Director of Cloud, Cyber Security & Collaboration for UKI, who told UC Today that the partnership is an opportunity for partners to appeal to smaller businesses with an alternative to Microsoft Teams.
Ingram Micro’s partnership with Google will see the distributor offer Workspace solutions as well as ‘Google Evolve” which supports partners with the distributor’s expertise and resources, providing technical support and sales and marketing material, to help partners go to market faster with a lower cost of entry.
Partners will be able to bundle complementary services to provide complete solutions to their end-customers. Additionally, they will have access to Ingram Micro’s enablement services and go-to-market support, to ensure they monetize their cloud businesses effectively.
“Fundamentally, our offering is built around the ‘Google Evolve’ programme that we’ve built,” said Murphy.
“Depending on how mature or capable the partner is around Google or the cloud, there’s a number of deliverables, such as training, that we can provide our partners, so they can reduce their risk and go to market faster”
“We’re finding that smaller businesses are exploring all the collaboration platforms in the market at the moment, not just Teams. As a result of our partnership, we are focused on helping Google reach the markets where it’s needed and, in turn, providing a choice to our wider partner base.”
Taking the Lead from Storage
Murphy went on to say that the UC and collaboration vendors will take a lead from data centre providers as legacy providers adapt to the entrance of the hyperscalers.
According to the director of cloud, cybersecurity and collaborations, there is a space for Microsoft, AWS and Google to co-exist along with smaller players in niche markets.
He said: “The opportunity in the market is so big and accelerating so fast that there is space for Azure, AWS, Google Cloud and some of the niche technologies that are out there too.
“For me, it’s all about cooperation. There’s a place for all of them in the market and there’s a unique place for each in certain scenarios in the same way that the legacy hardware data centre vendors have learnt to coexist.”
