Ingram Micro’s Sabine Howest

Ingram Micro today announced it will create a Center of Excellence for IoT. The distributor also named Sabine Howest to lead the team effort. Howest’s new title is vice president partner engagement and IoT.

The new Center of Excellence for IoT will expand Ingram Micro’s IoT go-to-market and portfolio. Channel partner enablement is core to the center’s initiative.

“The introduction of a Global Center of Excellence will smooth and accelerate the road-to-market for our channel partners and manufacturers specializing in IoT. It will also pave the way for us to share best practices, new market applications and resources globally,” said Paul Bay, executive vice president and president of Global Technology Solutions at Ingram Micro. “Under Sabine’s leadership, Ingram Micro’s IoT business will scale. And, it will further specialize — adding increased and sustainable business value to our partners and manufacturers by helping them extend their expertise, share their experience and meet the varied demands of the market locally, regionally and globally.”

Howest, at Ingram Micro since 2009 and formerly the company’s channel chief, is now in an expanded role. She oversees the distributor’s global business development of its top vendor and solution provider partners. She is also responsible for increasing Ingram Micro’s value-added capabilities within enterprise and specialty markets. She serves as the executive lead for Ingram Micro’s Global Centers of Excellence.

“IoT remains one of the channel’s must-have technology practices. It represents an area where channel partners are able to lead and enable their customers with the technology and services needed to proactively pivot, lean into their strengths and learn from real time data, AI and analytics to make more informed business decisions,” said Howest. “Our Centers of Excellence are proven to optimize operations and help empower our people and our partners. We are in this together.  I am eager to work with my new team and put our business process, portfolio and resources — which now include collaborative engineering — to work for our IoT-focused partners and providers and, in turn, the customers they serve.”

Ingram Micro will expand its portfolio by teaming up with up with established and emerging vendors. In particular, the distributor will work with IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and mixed reality (MR) manufacturers. The distributor will also add resources for partners including financing, solution development services and market-ready use cases. The use cases will support the high demand for select technologies and service capabilities in key markets.

Last year, Ingram Micro launched a cybersecurity Center of Excellence in the Netherlands. That Center extends support across Europe, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Nordics, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland, among others. The company appointed Brian Verburg as manager of the center.

Earlier in 2019, Ingram Micro established three cybersecurity Centers of Excellence to cover the EMEA region.