Please tell us about Ingram Micro’s India presence and resources.
Ingram Micro India is the leading technology solutions aggregator and distributor with35% market share. We have been around for over 20 years and have expanded our presence and investment in the country to cater for the rapidly expanding IT consumption.
[quote font=”tahoma” font_size=”13″ font_style=”italic” color=”#262626″ bgcolor=”#f2f2f2″]
“We are closely monitoring Cutting Edge Technologies Like Blockchain, Quantum Computing, AR/VR ETC. and will Certainly be the First to bring these Products to the Channel.
Diego Utge,
SVP and Country Chief
Executive, Ingram Micro India
[/quote]
How have you transformed within the company to cope with the market growth?
The market has grown not just in absolute numbers but also in different sectors. To meet this multi-dimensional growth we have not only ramped up our core distribution business which includes better warehousing, efficient logistics etc. but also rolled out multiple strategic initiatives in the following areas:
- Innovative Channel finance & payment options
- OPEX-driven consumption models like Hardware-as-a-service
- E-Commerce enablement of retail partners
- Professional services like technical consulting, cybersecurity etc.
- The world’s No. 1 cloud commerce engine CloudBlue
- Industry-leading cloud marketplace for federated provisioning of Cloud services
- Partner enablement through Consulting & Digital Marketing services
- Adoption of emerging technologies like IoT, ML etc.
What is the IT distribution market landscape? What is the total size in INR?
This is probably best answered by industry analysts like Gartner, IDC etc.
What is the turnover and growth of Ingram Micro India?
We did over $3.5B in revenues annually in India.
Could you tell us about your turnover and YoY growth globally?
Worldwide 2018 fiscal year sales were $50.4 billion, an increase of $3.8 billion, or 8 percent in USD.
There are new technologies like Cloud, IOT, Big Data & Analytics, Blockchain, AI etc. influencing the market, is Ingram Micro dealing with these products? If yes what is the kind of grow in this segment?
Ingram Micro closely monitors technological innovations both in research labs as well as new product launches around the world. We are foremost in bringing the latest new products to our customers globally, and that is how we help them realize the promise of technology. We have adopted Cloud in a really big way, as is evident from the massive investments and subsequent success from our Cloud division. We have launched the industry’s first marketplace for IoT solutions, and have multiple offerings in the fields of Big Data & Analytics, RPA, HCI, Bot & AI etc. We are closely monitoring cutting edge technologies like Blockchain, Quantum Computing, AR/VR etc. and will certainly be the first to bring these products to the channel.
What is your policy towards partner credit line?
We believe credit is an extremely important factor in the Channel ecosystem and offer the best credit terms to our partners. In addition to the standard credit line that is extended to each partner (based on their requirements and purchase history), we have also rolled out many innovative Channel finance schemes like EasyPay which allows partners to make payments in equated installments periodically thereby freeing up their credit line and allowing them extended credit periods. We have also introduced payments thrugh UPI, NACH etc. so that partners are able to leverage their credit lines more effectively.
What value added services you are offering to the partners, because these days most of mainstream distributors are turning VADs?
All of the strategic initiatives mentioned earlier add tremendous value to our partners. For example, our E-Commerce enablement helps partners sell online more easily. Professional services and consulting helps partners with large and complex deals all the way from Pre-sales to solution design and finally post sales support. Our digital marketing services help partners generate demand and visibility while the consulting services helps make partners and their business more future ready. In short, Ingram Micro has completely embraced the concept of a being a valueadded distributor and has re-oriented itself to deliver more to its partners than pure-play distribution.
What is your total product mix? Also tell us about your brand associations in India.
We have a huge product catalog comprising of over 200 products across 30+ categories. We partner with established and up and coming brands that are both global as well as homegrown. While it’s not possible to list all brands, we encourage interested readers to visit our website for our complete product catalog.
What is your product roadmap for 2019?
We are constantly adding new products across our Advanced Solutions, Consumer & Commercial, Cloud, and Mobility businesses. We want to bring best-of-breed and robust products to the Indian market and are fortunate to have the trust of many brands who work exclusively with us.
Since Ingram Micro is a global company what are the best practices that you have implemented in this country?
There are many practices that are globally followed so it’s hard to list all, but I would like to take one example of GDPR and consent. Even through Indian laws do not mandate taking a person’s consent before sending an email, we believe it is the right thing to do. Hence we have adopted a constent-driven communication platform for our Indian customers too. This is just one small example of a global best practice being implemented in India but shows our single-minded pursuit of customer-centric and ethical business practices.
