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It was a messy state of affairs two years ago for Ingram Micro, when after being named EMC North American Distributor of the Year seven months earlier, was stripped of its status as an authorized distributor for North America. Well, as of Thursday, that’s all changed, as Dell EMC has named Ingram Micro as a 2017 Distribution Partner.

For Ingram Micro, the announcement brings back into the fold the EMC business that it had lost. According to Dell EMC, Ingram Micro can sell the vendor’s full portfolio of products – advanced cloud IT infrastructure, converged systems, PCs, servers and storage solutions – in the U.S. The announcement also means that partners can now opt to put the distributor back on their shopping destination list.

“Expanding our relationship with Dell EMC is a significant win for Ingram Micro and our channel partners, and a direct result of the continued success we have achieved together in the U.S.,” Kirk Robinson, senior vice president, Go-to-Market, Ingram Micro, said in a company statement. “By leveraging the expertise and resources within our Advanced Solutions organization, vendors and channel partners are identifying more opportunities, shortening the sales cycle and solving business challenges with greater efficiency. We are excited to grow our relationship with Dell EMC and engage with them to sell the full portfolio of products in the new Dell EMC Partner Program.”{ad}

Ingram Micro will have to win back EMC partner business from those who went elsewhere — such as Tech Data, Arrow, and, Avnet Technology Solutions. And, Tech Data’s acquisition of Avnet Technology Solutions, set to close soon, positions the company as a significant global IT distributor with operations in 35 countries, and an end-to-end IT product portfolio.

The tide turned for Ingram Micro this week with the announcement of a new and unified Dell EMC Partner Program, which embraces the entire Dell EMC partner ecosystem including solution providers, cloud service providers, strategic outsources, OEM solutions, system integrators and distribution partners.

Earlier this year, Dell EMC noted plans to consolidate the list of distribution partners in FY18, forging tighter ties with key global distributors who “place bets” on Dell EMC.

Ingram Micro’s Advanced Solutions organization heads up the new vendor relationship.