Ingram Micro Opens New Experience Center Showcasing Cisco Technologies
New center offers channel partners access to tactical sales videos, training and engineering labs, and real-world demos.
After months of planning, distributor Ingram Micro Inc. is unveiling its new technology showcase and demonstration facility for Cisco technologies.† The 1,000-square-foot Experience Center is located adjacent to Ingram Micro’s Solution Center in Buffalo, N.Y., and features a multitude of Cisco’s newest technology solutions—$2 million worth. It is here that partners may experience interactive demonstrations of Cisco’s mobile, home, and remote user solutions. The center allows channel partners to view and try Cisco technology before they buy.
What makes this center different from the Buffalo facility is a video wall of seven screens that displays Cisco architecture and solutions (focused at vertical markets), as well as demonstration pods to show how Cisco business tools accommodate customers that require access to their business network at all times, from various locations, and with any device.
“My favorite [aspect of the center] is the telepresence site,” says Holly Garcia, senior director of vendor management at Ingram Micro U.S. “We will be connected to a telepresence site in our Santa Ana solution center. We’ll also be connected to Cisco telepresence sites as well as other telepresence sites across North America that will allow business owners and our partners to … come into our office and meet with partners in a face-to-face environment.”
The center also includes an online portal offering tactical sales videos and training and engineering labs. Partners will be able to view and access real-world demos featuring Cisco’s hardware and software technologies. Ingram Micro will host a variety of technical and sales-focused Cisco-based training over the next 18 months.
Of particular significance to SMB resellers is a classroom and lab environment containing a variety of SMB products as well as a digital home space that shows available technology options for telecommuters. Roy McLean, engineer manager at Cisco says, “A telecommuter could be a remote office environment, for example, that has a Cisco 800 series router designed for the telecommuter, so they can have a secure connection back to headquarters.” Another option, says McLean, would be a remote worker with video capabilities for videoconferencing with the main office.
Overall, “no matter the size of the business,” concludes Julie Hens, vice president of Channels Distribution (US and Canada), “demand is growing, and I think these technologies and architectures lend [themselves] to a healthy recurring revenue stream for the VAR, so they have a chance to generate service opportunities and increase their business.”
For more information, visit: http://www.ingrammicro.com.
