The Future Of Partnerships

At Ingram Micro ONE, one of the main themes was the evolution of tech partnerships, modernization and AI’s impact on the channel. In an exclusive interview with CRNtv, Bill Brandel, executive vice president and president, North America, Ingram Micro, shared how the distributor is helping partners streamline operations, boost collaboration and leverage AI for real results.

Brandel emphasized that the role of partners is shifting from traditional IT advisors to business outcome enablers. “Today it’s more about business outcomes,” he said. “In order to do that, you have to truly understand the business, what makes it work, what drives it and how all the different organizations within a company work together to achieve that goal.”

This shift is changing the sales approach for solution providers. “It’s moved from the back IT office and more into the go-to-market teams who are truly driving the transformation to their customers,” Brandel explained. “That’s where partners need to truly understand to provide value.”

Brandel also addressed the complexity of multi-vendor solutions and how Ingram Micro is tackling it. “Our ecosystem is full of complexity,” he said. “We have anywhere from four to six OEMs on any solution quote. How we combine those into one solution that solves an end customer’s need is really about removing complexity and streamlining transactions.”

AI is another major focus for Ingram Micro. “Our platform is built on AI, so we don’t just talk about AI, we are leveraging AI,” Brandel said. He highlighted the company’s intelligent digital assistant, IDA, which uses machine learning to help sellers identify opportunities and engage customers proactively. “IDA is able to help our sellers understand where the opportunities exist within the customers they’re doing business with, so they can have meaningful conversations to expand and capture opportunities just when they’re ready to close.”

Brandel noted that AI has been “game changing” for Ingram Micro, driving success in sales results, value creation and customer satisfaction. “We’ve seen tremendous success in customer satisfaction as it relates to that specific example of AI in action,” he said.

To learn more, visit: ingrammicro.com