Inside Microsoft's value-added distributor service

Microsoft could partner with more distributors and value added resellers across different specialties in Australia under its value-added distributor program.

Microsoft announced this week that it had appointed Ingram Micro as its first value-added distributor in Australia under the global program which kicked off last year. 

“The first area [in Australia] that we wanted was virtualisation,” Microsoft’s Rosemany Stark (pictured), product manager for server solutions and infrastructure at Microsoft Australia, told CRN. 

 “We wouldn’t be locking out other distributors,” she said. “We will be looking at other solution areas to provide more resources in the market and be able to scale out.

"If we prove the model is successful [in this area], then we’ll look at others,” she said.

The service gives distributors support, funding and resources across specific specialties. Early last year the vendor had already appointed two UK distributors, Bell Micro and Computer 2000. 

Microsoft was on the prowl this month for a unified communications VAD in  the UK to add to the 44 VADs it had already selected around the world.  

Distributors were selected based on their value proposition in each country, rather than a global VAD appointment.  

Inside the Ingram deal

Stark said Microsoft went out with a tender to a number of “key distributors” in July last year and asked a number of questions around what they would do to drive a value proposition.

“We had the tenders come back and there was a board that looked at it. From that Ingram was chosen based on their submission and their initial investment,” she said.

Microsoft Australia's authorised distributors include Altech, Express Data, Ingram Micro and Synnex. 

David Lenz, enterprise technology group director at Ingram Micro, said Ingram Micro’s appointment was an "endorsement of the success of the ETG division’s focus on the enterprise solutions market".

“We’ve invested heavily in building up deep expertise in enterprise technologies and in resources such as the Partner Technology Centre that enable us to work closely with resellers to help them design and build multi-vendor enterprise technology solutions,” he said. 

Under the program, Ingram has added three in-house staff. Two solution architects and one Microsoft development manager. There’s also a partner portal in the works with sales tools to help resellers get up to speed.

“As well there will be marketing funds and the normal things you would see through distribution. At the moment we’ve just started to go out in the five capital cities excluding Canberra, speaking to key partner execs to really have that conversation,” Stark said.

Resellers

Stark said Microsoft was interested in signing resellers with a focus on virtualisation. The software giant wanted partners that already have an infrastructure and a virtualisation practice and could include Microsoft's virtualisation solutions.

She said it didn't matter if the reseller was already a partner with other virtualisation vendors.

"For me when I talk to those partners I believe Microsoft is a valid choice that provides bigger margins. Channel partners are able to offer choice," she said. 

Cloud

In its announcement Ingram Micro flagged a future cloud tie-up between the two companies following their renewed relationship. But neither side would elaborate.

Stark however gave a further indication that something was in the works. "The one thing I would say is that we see virtualisation as a key technology to providing the infrastructure to enable cloud," she said.