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Ingram Micro on Wednesday announced the launch of the new ‘HP as a Service’ platform in collaboration with HP.
The programme is a self-service platform for resellers to provide an end user quotation, for an end to end solution on HP products and Ingram services with competitive leasing rates. It enables resellers to obtain a quick, accurate quotation without the need to contact the supplier’s various platforms, as the Ingram HPaaS platform is fully integrated into Ingram’s and leasing providers ERP systems.
Gemma Glen synergies lead at Ingram Micro commented, “We are, as with everyone in the channel, seeing the trends for IT purchasing changing, moving towards Cloud, Mobile, Big Data, and to a “as a Service “ model. The challenge for us, is how we help our customers engage with us in this new way of doing business, our customers need to provide accurate pricing and availability on a number of services including leasing, in the same online platforms they are using to transact with us today, providing a platform which is fully integrated into Ingram ERP system was needed”.
The platform is simple to use, quick and reseller friendly which makes putting together a HP solution for Hardware, Software, HP/IM services and resellers own services incredibly straightforward. The platform itself is also integrated into Ingram Micro’s ERP systems, the reseller access to the platform is via their IM One log in credentials, giving the reseller accurate pricing and stock levels with no need to make another contact into their account manager, it’s also integrated into leasing providers to give the resellers confidence that they have the most competitive leasing rate for the solution and can provide instant credit checks, once the HP solution has been configured an end user quotation can simply be downloaded for ease of transaction. This initiative is aimed at helping resellers to promote the HP product range and increase it’s already strong positioning in the premium device space.
Matt Sanderson, UK&I MD for Ingram Micro commented, “HP as a Service is a game-changer to how our customers can do business with Ingram Micro. The solution has been created with our customers in mind, giving them the flexibility of building a solution from different areas of our business. They are gaining access to our products and services from one central location”.
The managed program calls upon all business areas of the Ingram Micro ecosystem and will empower resellers to offer the entire HP suite. This offering will allow reseller partners to accelerate implementations for their own customers and permit a degree of flexibility. Additionally, customers will have access to leasing options which endeavor to reduce risk and will improve key financial measurements, with the adaptability of trade in and buy back services from Ingram Micro.
Gemma Glen continues, “We have chosen to partner with HP Inc in this initiative, as they too understand where the market in heading with “as a Service” solutions. It makes sense to combine our capabilities so that we can deliver a full end to end solution for the channel. We will be running a series of webinars over the coming months for our customers, to give an overview of the solution, how to use the platform and a dedicated session on “The benefits of Leasing for Partners and their end users”.
