Ingram Micro Canada Introduces New Configure-to-Order Services for Cisco Collaboration Solutions

MISSISSAUGA, ON--(Marketwired - Mar 5, 2014) - Expanding upon its advanced integration capabilities, Ingram Micro Canada, a subsidiary of Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM), the world's largest wholesale technology distributor and a global leader in supply-chain and mobile device lifecycle services, today announced new configure-to-order (CTO) services designed to expedite deployment, reduce implementation costs and drive sales of Cisco collaboration solutions for Ingram Micro partners across Canada.

Available immediately through Ingram Micro Canada's Cisco Business Unit, the new value-added services accelerate the sales cycle and creation of custom-built and pre-configured Cisco collaboration solutions including Cisco Business Edition 6000. Offered exclusively by Ingram Micro, the new Cisco CTO services enable channel partners to deploy Cisco collaboration solutions right out of the box, saving both time and money.

"Ingram Micro continues to build upon its ability to provide greater value to our reseller partners and help them increase the speed and efficiency with which they do business," says Dave Mason, executive director, sales, Ingram Micro Canada. "By providing these new Cisco CTO services to our mutual partners, we're positioning them to gain a clear competitive advantage in the market and take their collaboration business to the next level."

The new CTO service includes a custom-built portal from which Cisco partners can choose the applications they would like pre-installed on an end customer's server as well as enter specifics about the customer's end-user network environment. With the information captured, each server is then updated, imaged and configured using the most up-to-date Cisco software. The process also allows each server to be thoroughly tested to ensure all components are fully functional and ready for immediate deployment.

The advanced configuration services are managed by Ingram Micro's world-class, dedicated Cisco-authorized technicians and completed in the distributor's highly secure, 25,000 square-foot Configuration Center in Mississauga, Ontario. Channel partners leveraging the new services are reporting a time savings of as much as three days per order.

"Addressing the technical, business and enablement needs of our reseller partners is a top priority for Cisco and the driving force behind our relationship with Ingram Micro," says Ian Gallagher, general manager, collaboration, Cisco Canada. "With these new CTO services, we're eliminating time-consuming steps in the configuration process to help our mutual channel partners deliver world-class collaboration solutions to their end customers in record time. We're very pleased to team with Ingram Micro on this endeavor and change the way Cisco collaboration offerings are ordered, delivered and deployed."

Last year, Ingram Micro Canada announced it was authorized as a Cisco Unified Computing Systems (UCS) C-Series Build-to-Order distribution partner in Canada. The designation allows Ingram Micro to stock, build, test and ship Cisco UCS C-Series servers to customer specification for authorized Cisco reseller partners throughout Canada. In addition, the distributor recently announced it earned three prestigious Cisco Americas Distribution awards including U.S. Cloud Distributor of the Year, U.S. Security Distributor of the Year and Canada Collaboration Distributor of the Year.

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About Ingram Micro Inc.
Ingram Micro is the world's largest wholesale technology distributor and a global leader in IT supply-chain and mobile device lifecycle services. As a vital link in the technology value chain, Ingram Micro creates sales and profitability opportunities for vendors and resellers through unique marketing programs, outsourced logistics and mobile solutions, technical support, financial services and product aggregation and distribution. The company is the only global broad-based IT distributor, serving approximately 170 countries on six continents with the world's most comprehensive portfolio of IT products and services. Visit IngramMicro.com.