Ingram Taps Siemens Cloud-based UCC Solution for SMBs

Ingram Micro Inc. said that its services division will offer a new, cloud-based unified communications and collaboration (UCC) solution from Siemens Enterprise Communications aimed at small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

In disclosing the agreement at Ingram’s Cloud Summit held this week in Phoenix, AZ, the companies said that the Siemens hosted UCC solutions and services will be made available to channel partners beginning in the July 2011 quarter.

The deal revolves around Siemens’ OpenScape Cloud Services, which the vendor said offers channel partners a complete, multi-tenant, pay-as-you-go communications solution suitable for businesses with 50 to 500 users.

Channel partners and managed services providers (MSPs) will be able to buy either the full Siemens solution or purchase pieces through Ingram’s Cloud Marketplace, officials said.

Renee Bergeron, Ingram North America vice president, managed services and cloud computing, said that the Siemens agreement holds new opportunities for cloud-focused channel partners.

“The combination of cloud computing and unified communications solutions is redefining how businesses engage and bringing with it profitable new services opportunities for network savvy IT solution providers and MSPs who are eager to embrace cloud-based technologies,” said Bergeron.

The Ingram executive said that the Siemens agreement is the first of an expanded portfolio of UCC services and solutions it plans to offer with additions later this year aimed at the midmarket and larger enterprises.

“The Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace will ultimately provide solution providers and MSPs access to an entire portfolio of UCC offerings that scale from SMB to enterprise and become the IT channel’s one stop shop for procuring and provisioning cloud services and solutions,” said Bergeron.

Michael R. Davis, Siemens North America vice president and general manager, cloud services, said that the Ingram deal fits well with the vendor’s strategy.

“We are pleased to be working with Ingram Micro to bring OpenScape Cloud Services to their SMB-focused channel partners,” said Davis.

“Ingram Micro has a strong cloud strategy in place that we believe nicely complements our offering, so that together we can deliver cost-effective and reliable UCC capabilities to customers,” he said.

Cloud Summit debuts new services

Several vendors launched new cloud services at Ingram’s Cloud Summit, including BMC Software, Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., N-able Technologies, Siemens Enterprise Communications, SherWeb, Symantec Corp., Trend Micro Inc. and VMware Inc.

Ingram said that its online Cloud Marketplace will house BMC’s Service Desk RemedyForce; Trend Micro’s Worry-Free Business Security Solutions, Business Security Advanced and Standard, SecureCloud and Deep Security; and, VMware’s Service Provider Program, all of which are available now.

Cloud services available in the third quarter of this year include N’able’s N-central 8.0, Security Manager Endpoint and Anti-spam, Audit Manager and Report Manager; Siemens’ OpenScape Cloud Services, including OpenScape Voice, OpenScape UC Application, and OpenScape Web Collaboration; SherWeb’s Hosted Exchange 2010; and, Symantec’s SEP.cloud and Endpoint Protection.cloud .

Cisco is expected to add its Cloud Collaboration Solutions and WebEx Meeting Center solutions to Ingram’s Cloud Marketplace by the end of the year.

“Ingram Micro stands alone as the IT industry’s leading services aggregator and strives to ensure our channel partners are influencing the market and driving positive change for their customers by offering best-in-class technology solutions and cloud services,” said Keith Bradley, Ingram North America senior executive vice president and president.

“The Ingram Micro Cloud Summit is a business-minded event that helps channel partners shape and refine their cloud services strategies, as well as generate new ideas and adopt proven business practices that will optimize sales performance and profitability potential,” he said.