**Editor’s Note: For an even more thorough breakdown of the Ingram Micro ‘Awesomeness’ Roadmap, read our story on Channel Futures.**

INGRAM MICRO CLOUD SUMMIT — Cloud, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), IaaS and XaaS are among the hot topics that represent the “Infinite Possibilities” for the 1,400 attendees at this year’s Ingram Micro’s Cloud Summit, that kicked off today.

In its ninth year, Ingram Micro Cloud Summit – this week in Boca Raton, Florida – offers partners three days of keynotes from vendors such as IBM, Microsoft, VMware, SAP, Workday and industry research firm, IDC. Sticking with its “Infinite” theme, there are more than 100 sessions in six tracks: Infinite Possibilities, Infinite Ecosystem, Infinite Growth, Infinite Verticals, Infinite Technology and Infinite Power.

Ingram Micro’s Nimesh Davé

“Infinite potential is immediate access to an outcome which is fast and fluid,” Nimesh Dave, executive vice president, global cloud at Ingram Micro, told the audience. And that, he said, is how Ingram Micro is going to win with partners.

At the core, the cloud changes everything, especially when combined with the power of 5G — which isn’t too far away. That’s why partners need to take a hard look at themselves and ask if they’re taking advantage of all they can do with cloud services. They need to ask if they understand the needs of their customers’ businesses and how far they’re willing to pivot to embrace the infinite possibilities of the cloud.

The cloud market is estimated to be worth $250 billion 2018. Renee Bergeron, senior vice president, global cloud channel at Ingram Micro, told the audience that together, Ingram Micro and its partners are well positioned to seize a large piece of that market — this year and beyond.

“Make no mistake. Now is the time to invest, to grow and scale your success,” she said.

Ingram Micro’s Renee Bergeron

To help partners understand where they are on the cloud journey, she outlined the four stages of the Ingram Micro Cloud ‘Awesomeness’ Roadmap: build, breadth, depth and scale. The distributor profiled its 45,000 cloud partners to gauge where they are and what makes them tick.

At the “build” end of the scale are Ingram Micro cloud partners who are just dipping their toes in the cloud. Unfortunately, the build partner is where most, 60 percent, of Ingram Micro’s cloud partners live.

Build partners sell between one and three cloud offerings; are reactive and opportunistic; use manual provisioning; and aren’t realizing much profit, mostly because they’re not making serious investments in cloud.

At the most awesome end of the Cloud Awesomeness Roadmap are the rare 1 percent of partners who are getting it right. These are “scale” partners. They sell 10 or more cloud solutions and IaaS, meaning they’ve ventured into the data center and are looking to be end-to-end providers for their customers. They understand automation, they’ve mastered integrated digital marketing, and understand that the digital customer experience is where the new customer battle is being fought.

“These partners see four times more pipeline,” Bergeron said.

In between the “build” partners and the “scale” partners are …

… the “breadth” and “depth” partners.

Thirty percent of Ingram Micro partners are “breadth” partners and 9 percent are “depth” partners. In a nutshell, as partners transition along the stages, they have a better understanding of cross-selling — and as in they do more of it, they have a better grasp on automation for provisioning, they practice integrated digital marketing, and they understand the importance of selling more, complex cloud services.

“Most people will tell you, “Don’t worry, cloud is a journey.” But, let me be very clear. I want all of you to be very worried about where you are on this cloud awesomeness road map,” Bergeron said. “Then I want you to focus that fear on reaching a new level of cloud awesomeness.”