Drive Fresh Growth with Converging Technology

If you’re like most successful solution providers, you know a solid foundation of core solutions supported by deep expertise is the way to differentiate yourself in an overcrowded market. But then what happens when a customer demands a solution outside your area of expertise? You can build the expertise (expensive), partner with a peer (risky if you don’t have the time to explore and build the right relationships) or leverage a vendor or distribution partner to offer the solution.

Many distributors limit partners’ access to portfolios outside the part of business where they’ve established a relationship. For example, if you’re handling data center business, your support team is tied to that business and can’t nimbly move across lines to help you sell adjacent technologies. That’s a problem when growth opportunities often are found in projects rooted in complementary technology solutions. Why would you limit your engagement to server, storage and security needs when you could offer to assess and deliver on wireless networking, unified communications and managed print as well?

At Ingram Micro, the opportunity to grow a business relationship is right at your fingertips if you’re savvy enough to make connections that support those efforts. For example, Ingram Micro’s Advanced Computing Division may work with you every day to refine and deliver best-in-class networks. But ask how it can help you build out a UC offering that can empower your end users to collaborate and increase productivity, and you can add tangible business value and an ongoing revenue stream to what otherwise would be project work.

When you think about how to stand out from the crowd and become a trusted adviser to your customers, think about the adjacent technologies that can drive deeper relationships. You’ll be more deeply embedded in their environments—and on the way to becoming a true business partner instead of just a deployment partner.

Jay Miley is vice president and general manager, Advanced Technology Division at Ingram Micro North America. Guest blogs such as this one are part of The VAR Guy’s Business Acceleration InfoCenter.