In twin moves aimed at burnishing its capabilities in the fast-growing cybersecurity market, Ingram Micro Inc. has acquired value-added distributor Cloud Harmonics and added the IBM MaaS360 with Watson endpoint security solution to its cloud marketplace.
Terms of the Cloud Harmonics transaction were not disclosed. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., the company specializes in security and cloud computing solutions, which it distributes through resellers in the U.S. and Canada.
It also offers an extensive array of training courses and technical enablement services for the more than two dozen vendors it represents, which range from familiar brands like Cisco and Microsoft to lesser-known names like San Francisco-based Preempt Security Inc., which makes a behavior-based insider threat mitigation solution, and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Rubrik Inc., which makes cloud data management software.
Significantly, Cloud Harmonics distributes offerings from next-generation security vendor Palo Alto Networks Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., a newcomer to Irvine, Calif.-based Ingram’s line card.
Purchasing Cloud Harmonics is the latest step in an ongoing effort by Ingram Micro to help its partners develop, deliver, and support solutions, rather than rely on product sales.
“This acquisition complements our strategic business objective to provide our customers with new opportunities to expand their businesses in high-growth, high-margin markets, such as cybersecurity,” said Paul Bay, executive vice president and group president of the Americas at Ingram Micro, in a press statement. “The addition of Cloud Harmonics adds to our services capabilities, enabling us to provide our partners with hands-on experience and access to the technology, services and enablement needed to establish themselves as trusted security advisors. We are excited to welcome Cloud Harmonics to the Ingram Micro family.”
Ingram will operate Cloud Harmonics as a unit of its Advanced Solutions division, which is led by Senior Vice President Tim Ament. Former Cloud Harmonics CEO Pradeep Aswani will serve as general manager of that unit.
“Combining our assets and expertise with a global industry leader like Ingram Micro allows us to play an even stronger and more active role in helping businesses effectively navigate today’s complex threat landscape,” said Aswani in prepared remarks. “Additionally, this partnership provides significant benefits to many of our customers who can now access Ingram Micro’s unparalleled end-to-end solutions portfolio.”
Gartner expects global security spending to rise eight percent in 2018 to $96.3 billion.
Cloud Harmonics is but the latest of several VADs acquired by Ingram in recent years. Others include NETXUSA Inc., a unified communications and collaboration solutions specialist acquired last March, and The Phoenix Group, a point-of-sale and digital payments specialist purchased last month.
IBM MaaS360 is the newest addition to the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace, which now includes over 200 services and supports more than 2 million managed seats worldwide. Powered by IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence platform, the system is designed to streamline the detection and mitigation of threats affecting smartphones, tablets, laptops, and IoT devices through a single, consolidated interface.
“Through leveraging the power of MaaS360 with Watson, IT leaders can proactively manage and secure endpoints with actionable insights that maximize the return on investment for their mobile strategies,” said Carola Cazenave, vice president of security routes to market at IBM, in a press statement. “Ingram Micro Cloud’s robust platform technology and unparalleled marketplace reach enables us and solution providers to easily bring cognitive endpoint management to more customers of all sizes around the world.”
MaaS360 is available immediately to Ingram resellers in the U.S. Both Ingram Cloud Marketplace partners and Premium-level users of Ingram Micro’s Odin Automation platform in the U.S. can bundle complementary services such as Microsoft Office 365 with the IBM offerings as well to provide complete cloud solutions. Ingram has been actively encouraging its partners to sell multi-system cloud solutions rather than individual software-as-a-service products through its e-commerce platform since its Cloud Summit event in April.
“The launch of IBM MaaS360 on the Cloud Marketplace ensures our partners continue to get access to best-in-class, AI-powered security services as well as the ability to offer end-to-end solutions,” said Renee Bergeron, senior vice president of global cloud channel at Ingram, in press remarks. “Today’s launch also speaks to our commitment to drive the adoption of innovative cloud technologies by providing our partners with industry- leading solutions.”
IBM expects MaaS360 to become available in geographies beyond the U.S. early in 2018.
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