Ingram Micro's Bob Laclede Named GovernmentVAR Channel Executive of the Year
Bob Laclede, vice president and general manager of Ingram Micro government and education sales, received the honor of being named GovernmentVAR Channel Executive of the Year at the annual Government Integrator's awards ceremony, held April 26, 2007, in Washington D.C.

"Bob has long been the face of Ingram Micro in the public sector, engaging our manufacturer partners and internal resources to drive our business in this space," says Keith Bradley, president, Ingram Micro North America. "The momentum behind our GovEd Alliance community is at an alltime high, due in large part to Bob's leadership and the dedication he inspires from his team."

A Little Help From Your Friends
How can you take your business to the next level? For Ingram Micro Seismic customers and members of our solution provider communities, new Peer Connect Groups could be the answer. The groups allow solution providers to share general and managed services best practices with their peers in a noncompetitive environment, either in an online forum or through face-to-face meetings. Participants can drive results by benchmarking their metrics to the best-performing companies in the industry via the Peer Connect Report, while learning what they need to do to advance their businesses' success. Profitability and compensation surveys are also available to help solution providers make better-informed business decisions and improve operational efficiencies.

Ingram Micro Seismic Shakes It Up
Managed services providers can now take advantage of four new service and support offerings through the Ingram Micro Seismic Virtual Services Warehouse:

Ingram Micro Seismic Managed Network Operations Center (NOC) | A low-cost, hassle-free solution to outsourcing and managing routine network and desktop maintenance and monitoring.

Ingram Micro Seismic Managed Help Desk | 24/7 remote support, available for purchase via a point-based system or unlimited annual calls per end user.

Ingram Micro Seismic Professional Services Automation (PSA) software, powered by Autotask | Designed to help Seismic partners improve service desk product ivity and operational efficiencies.

Ingram Micro Seismic E-Mail and Web Defense Services, powered by MX Logic | An affordable way to incorporate e-mail and web protection services into existing managed-services offerings.

These new Seismic offerings help solution providers and managed service provider partners decrease operating costs while dramatically increasing service and support capabilities. Each service can be sold separately or bundled together as part of a complete managed services solution. Visit www.ingrammicro.com/seismic for more information.

Caring for the Community
Ingram Micro isn't just a powerful presence in the technology channel -- we're heavily invested in supporting our local communities as well. According to Krista Arellano, director, Ingram Micro community relations and worldwide strategic planning, the company racked up impressive statistics in 2006:

• $1,189,684 donated to nonprofits worldwide
• $150,000 donated to educational organizations
• 300 tech products donated
• 2,000 volunteer hours donated
• 647 pints of blood donated
• 2,047 toys donated
• 1,276 boxes of food donated
• 240 books donated
• 265 associates walked, biked or jogged for a cause
• 200 families sponsored 10,637 through holiday adopt-a-family programs
• $288,289 donated to United Way by North American offices
• 48 organizations supported through matching gifts program
• 13,700 jobs provided worldwide
• Tons of office paper recycled
• Tons of cardboard boxes recycled (enough to fill more than 506 flatbed trucks)
• 560 batteries recycled
• 10,234 overhead lighting tubes recycled
• $43,707 donated from company casual days
• $182,500 donated from golf tournaments

To learn more about Ingram Micro's community programs, visit www.ingrammicro.com/corporate.

Red Level Networks Wins Big With the Power of Partnership
" Partnerships are a critical aspect of a strong and growing business," said David King, founder and president of Red Level Networks. "From our beginning we saw the need to develop a strong relationship with a large organization that could provide us numerous services. While leveraging the resources of these partnerships, it’s given us the opportunity to focus on our own competencies."

Recently, Red Level was able to win a significant deal by leveraging one of its relationships with a large company -- Ingram Micro.

When end user Co-Op Services Credit Union needed to increase server and storage capacity to support a new software platform, the team at Red Level found themselves competing against a large, nationwide technology company that was recommending a different solution at a lower up-front cost. King, a GovEd Alliance member who recently had been introduced to the Ingram Micro Solution Center by Dave Honsberger, a sales manager in Ingram Micro's GovEd Division, knew where to go for help. He contacted Honsberger, who worked with technical engineer Andrew Schmidt to secure funding from Hewlett-Packard for a live demonstration of Red Level's proposed solution.

At the same time, Red Level and Ingram Micro worked behind the scenes to lock down special pricing from HP and lay out financing for the project. The result: Red Level Networks won the business to the tune of a quarter million dollars, and Co-Op Services Credit Union gained a better understanding of the full capabilities their chosen IT partner brings to the table.

"Ingram Micro was able to present the unique solutions we were recommending to the client, as opposed to simply dazzling them with bright lights." King says. "The Ingram Micro team understood the complex nature of this project, and the conversation focused on total cost of ownership rather than price. This is what set us apart from the competition."