INTERVIEW
The 95% This strategy of being a helping hand to those who need it has served Ingram Micro well so far. “We are assisting our resellers with retrofitting a lot of end-user boardrooms, training rooms and meeting rooms that were perfectly capable of on-site meetings but when it came to dialling somebody in, the solution was to huddle around a laptop. “Headsets, for example, is a market that’s saturated but now dominated by replacement. The evolutions in technology, such as noise cancellation, mean everyone’s always going to want the next best thing. “We believe that 95% of UK meeting rooms are not video enabled. That’s a market we are targeting. That doesn’t mean a total refit of a boardroom, but finding ways to effectively use a screen, attaching video to it, a HD camera, a good quality microphone and speaker system; – whatever it may be to allow businesses to communicate with employees that might be at home, or outside of the office. “It’s the retrofitting of those meeting rooms that we’re seeing a big demand for.” Complimentary Partnerships Seeing the opportunity is one thing, but being able to provide the solutions to capitalise on it is another. Since Aitken has come aboard, Ingram Micro has announced an expansion of its distribution relationships with its key vendor partners and brands in the UCC sector, including Microsoft, HP, EPOS and Cisco. Aitken said that his focus is also on making the most out of current vendor relationships. “I want to make sure that we develop the relationships we have, fully utilising each opportunity. We continually ask questions like, ‘What products are we missing? What complementary products do we need to add to that portfolio? How can we deliver more encompassing solutions to our reseller partners?’” “We have added and will continue to add complementary products that allow us to support even more deals and provide solutions for the benefit of our resellers and their customers.”
Measuring Success Naturally shared benefits for vendors, partners, and Ingram Micro is not the only growth that Aitken is interested in. Although he is clearly focused on making the distributor a vital part of the market and selling products and solutions to reseller partners, we all have KPIs to work to, and general managers are not exempt. But when asked about his ambitions, Aitken said that partner numbers would personally be a better indicator of success, as well as how “sticky” Ingram Micro is to them. “For me, the biggest factor for success is selling more products to more customers because that’s a big compliment to what we’re doing and means that they trust and have confidence in what we’re doing. “Another determining key factor is understanding how our vendors feel about what we’re doing: ‘Are we growing our market share with our vendors? Are our vendors pleased with what we’re doing? Are we adding value in terms of selling the products they want us to sell? Are we attracting interest from new vendors?’ These questions are good indicators of whether we’re doing something right.” “On top of that, I want to have a happy team that works for me and enjoys what they do. I think that if a business is to be successful, the people
CONTINUED
We have added and will continue to add complementary products that allow us to support even more deals and provide solutions for the benefit of our resellers and their customers.
inside have to be motivated by what they do and they have to buy into the strategy. They need a sense of purpose. That is a great determinant
of success. If I have people who want to work for me and be part of the journey and enjoy coming to work every day, that means I’m doing a good job.”
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