Looking beyond the transition to where partners can derive “business growth and a huge amount of profitability”.
Broadcom's acquisition of VMware has undoubtedly created some disruptions within the channel, but it has also provided partners with a way to not only redefine their relationship with the virtualisation leader, but also enhance the role they play in their client's data centre and hybrid cloud technology strategies.
Ingram Micro has a lengthy relationship with VMware, and Broadcom's decision to simplify the VMware product portfolio will see the company playing a greater role in the future of data centres, says Ingram Micro’s general manager for cloud and hybrid business, Amanda O'Brien.
"Where we see Broadcom investing in research and development is around those core products and building them out as platforms to virtualise customers’ entire infrastructure whether in a data centre, the Cloud or hybrid environments" O'Brien says.
"The new portfolio takes virtualisation to the next level by giving us the ability to really embrace private, hybrid, and multicloud environments, which is where we need to be to meet the future demands of workloads."
Meeting future workload demands
An important driver for the strategy is the rising importance of AI within corporate computing environments, and the need to maximise flexibility. This includes ensuring that the location of data and processing capacity are optimised to ensure organisations can maximise the economic returns of their AI investments while meeting their data sovereignty obligations.
"It's all about 'workloads wherever'," O'Brien says. "Wherever those workloads are, there's going to be a requirement for AI to access that data in real time to provide insights. That might be at the edge, it might be in the hyperscaler, it might be in a sovereign cloud.
"So where I see Broadcom investing is to elaborate on that story and drive that AI conversation, to be able to ensure that those workloads are secure and managed, and in a cost-effective manner."
This strategy gives partners an opportunity to solidify their standing as a forward-facing trusted advisor, O'Brien says.
"They are able to have a conversation with their customers about what their environments need to look like in the future, and help them prepare for that," O'Brien says. "That's where VMware's new offerings come into the picture."
Where partners can derive “business growth and a huge amount of profitability”
Another significant opportunity for partners comes through VMware's decision to withdraw some of their direct services offerings in favour of partner-led engagements.
"So they are not just selling the products, but unlocking that value for partners of deploying those and being that that forward-facing technology ambassador and implementation partner, as well as managing those environments for their customers," O'Brien says.
"That's where partners can grow profitability out of their existing customer base by taking on that services component that might have been fulfilled by VMware."
O'Brien says Ingram Micro has enjoyed a long association with VMware, having been the first local distributor to hit $10 million in revenue, and this relationship has been strengthened through the acquisition process. The result is that Ingram Micro is now able to offer a broader range of services to help partners capitalise on Broadcom's strategic vision for its acquisition.
She says while these conversations often start with the transition of existing licences to a subscription-based model, greater opportunities exist in starting conversations with customers about their future plans for their cloud spending and data centre environments.
"For partners that are trying to work out where they stand in the current scheme of things and what their future pathways look like, that's where we can help to understand what that opportunity looks like for them," O'Brien says.
"Whether that is through our Remote Delivery Centre, where there are resources that can help with large scale deployments, through to an expert level design partnerships, we can engage for partners through in a robust and noncompetitive way.
"We're the only distributor that has migration competency competencies across both AWS and Azure, so we are highly skilled and literate on how the VMware and environments interact and engage with the hyperscaler environments."
Being “very upfront” and engaging early
Ultimately, O'Brien says the success that partners find in the new VMware engagement model will be directly tied to how willing and committed they are to lean in to those discussions and get behind Broadcom's vision for the company.
"There's an opportunity for partners to not only delight their customers, but to build even stronger relationships with them by being very upfront and engaging early about the changes, and being that trusted advisor," O'Brien says.
"And at Ingram Micro, we're here to help guide and provide as much information as we can for partners to be able to do that."
Please feel free to schedule a one-on-one session with your Ingram partner manager to brainstorm and refine your VMware strategy, aiming to drive business growth and enhance profitability. Contact a member of our team today.
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