Distributing the virtual message

Looking at simply box-shifting in the virtualisation space fails to serve any long-term viability for all concerned, according to Pollari. Even vendors have woken up to the concept of the need for being part of a greater solution that has got to add value and solve a business problem.

“We want the end-user to have a positive experience around virtualisation, because if done wrong it can be ugly. We understand that any reseller can sell virtualisation, from the smaller SMBs to the larger enterprises, and they can now procure that post-implementation service in an accredited manner by using TAS.
So when someone plugs it in, it works. The end-user then very quickly forgets the price. They just see productively gains.”

Reseller coverage

“Originally virtualisation was all about server and storage. It was high-end enterprise, but it is in the mid-tier space where the action is really starting to happen.”

Ingram has 6500 active reseller accounts, 500 of which currently offer virtualisation. “We have been attempting to push into the mid-tier space as we see huge opportunity for growth there. We are also looking to work with vendors to improve their OEM relationships with the likes of Lenovo.

“The guys who might have been buying the occasional Microsoft licence from us or selling the odd SMB-type server and haven’t really thought about virtualisation. These are the guys who are going to start to step up and will start a regular churn of every time they sell a server it will be virtualised.”

Concerning the design phase of the virtualisation piece, Pollari said there’s a heavy dependence on Ingram to support its reseller base.

“Even the enterprise players are stretched from a technical architecture perspective, so we are augmenting a lot of their own services. We allow resellers to get a toe in the water without taking on that heavy technical burden,” he said.

Looking forward

“I would like to think that distribution will play an ever-expanding role in virtualisation. As we move further away from that point product, where people think a brand equals virtualisation, we will see these complimentary vendors gain traction in the market. These vendors fill niches, but those niches are there because of virtualisation presenting these opportunities.”

Looking towards the next two years, Pollari said he sees no reason why virtualisation will not continue to grow at its current rate.

“If you look at the amount of servers out there, say only between six and eight percent are virtualised. This really is a green field for resellers and this is where there are opportunities. When resellers take virtualisation to customers and show the benefit, they are actually solving problems. End-users see their problems are being solved and resellers get more stickiness to their customers. Virtualisation is here, it is happening, and it is about how quickly the resellers are going to get on board,” added Pollari.

data centre distributing message the virtual