Ingram Micro, the IT distributor for managed services providers and business end-users, has expanded its cloud solutions portfolio with two new solutions aimed at offering unified communications (UC) as a service.

The additions include…

Ingram Micro and Siemens Enterprise Communications

First, Ingram Micro has signed a deal with Siemens Enterprise Communications that will allow Ingram Micro to sell the Siemens Enterprise Communications OpenScape Cloud Service through its North America Services Division.

Translation? Don’t be fooled by the term “enterprise.” Qualified Ingram reseller partners throughout the United States and Canada will be able to sell Siemens’ solution to MSPs and other solution providers who are mainly serving an SMB end-user base. According to Siemens and Ingram, the OpenScape Cloud gives SMBs the kind of functionality, scalability and reliability that usually only enterprise-level businesses can afford. But by offering the UC solution as a cloud service, the companies are eliminating the added cost of an on-premise UC solution.

There are several reasons why the Ingram Micro, Siemens deal makes sense, the most important of which is that it gives IngramMicro channel partners the opportunity to expand their customer bases as they’ll now be selling an affordable UC solution to the SMB market.

Another reason is that, according to Siemens VP of Partner Collaboration Andy Howard, the OpenScape Cloud can be easily integrated into the existing offerings of many of Ingram’s channel partners. So instead of creating brand new offerings, channel partners can slide the solution into existing SMB packages. And finally, Siemens is allowing Ingram channel partners to white-label the solution so that they can create a stronger reputation under their own brand name.

Ingram Micro and Zscaler

Ingram doubled-down on cloud services this week by also signing a distribution agreement with Zscaler, a cloud security company whose CEO Jay Chaudhry recently made the case that cloud security solutions are killing security hardware appliances.

So Ingram is now the Zscaler’s exclusive distribution partner and will sell Zscaler’s cloud security solutions throughout the United States starting now. The Zscaler deal presents a broader opportunity for Ingram partners than the Siemens distribution agreement, as Zscaler’s security solutions can be used in either SMB or enterprise environments.