Our team is back from Ingram Micro ONE 2017 and we’ve got some highlights to share with you! 
Ingram Micro ONE 2017, Ingram‘s largest conference of the year, was held November 27-30 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. The IM ONE 2017 event connects members of the Ingram Micro Trust X and SMB Alliance, as well as all Ingram Micro solution providers, for an unparalleled networking and technology education event with partners from across Ingram Micro’s ecosystem. IM ONE attracted an estimated 2000 attendees from VARs, MSPs, CSPs and IT consulting firms of all sizes. Here’s our recap:
Notes from the Conference Floor
Ingram Micro ONE kicked off on Monday night with the welcome reception and approximately 1000 Ingram partners in attendance including active distributors and other key partners, major manufacturers, service partners, and technology providers. On Tuesday, ImagIT and other Trust X Alliance members joined the Trust X General Session to discuss initiatives and upcoming events. The Trust X Alliance is an invite-only internal alliance within Ingram Micro that brings together 350 experienced members, that meet a high-level of business and technology criteria.
As a technology focused conference, there were many great, educational sessions to attend addressing various topics within the industry. One of the most well attended talks was the opening session with Paul Bay, Ingram Micro’s EVP and group president of the Americas. Bay discussed important trends and opportunities for channel partners such as artificial intelligence (AI), sales cycles, and technology as a service. Read more here. We also enjoyed the session from Cisco regarding how to go after the SLED (state local and educational vertical).
While at the conference, we spent some time at the solution showcase (expo hall) and chatted with up and coming players including RSA, Zebra, Aspire Consulting, F5, and Minnow Talk. Ingram really does a great job of bringing together its group of partners and we had numerous opportunities to meet with current and prospective contacts within our ecosystem.
Networking Opportunities
ImagIT enjoyed several networking events throughout our visit. The Trust X Great Lakes Chapter Dinner was a great opportunity to meet with other Trust X members from areas around our headquarters in Chicago. The dinner was attended by around 50 members and we had good conversations with contacts from VMWare and Ingram Micro as well as other attendees.
The official closing event from Ingram Micro was also a great hit. The event was held at Circle R Ranch and entertained with line dancing and a live rodeo!
Outside of the Ingram networking events, we also enjoyed several outside opportunities to connect with our partners. As part of our holiday program, we hosted an appreciation lunch for our partner team at World Wide Technology. ImagIT also met with Casey Burkhalter of Ntegratedand visited their NOC, it was great to see it in action! We enjoyed lunch with Kent Barner, President of CIO Suite, and had some great discussions about future possibilities.
ImagIT also joined a wine tour sponsored by Cisco. Most people don’t think of wine when they think of Texas, but with a conference in a town called Grapevine it only makes sense! We had a fantastic time and enjoyed some great conversation and great wine. Thanks Cisco!
Next Up
Ingram Micro ONE was a productive conference for ImagIT and we look forward to continuing to grow the relationships that developed. If you missed us but would like to start a conversation lets schedule a time to chat, we’re always working to line up good meetings during our travels! Drop us a line and we will get something on the books.
ImagIT Solutions specializes in providing comprehensive IT services for channel partners, MSPs, and enterprise-level organizations. Our expansive engineering team is carefully vetted and trained to meet your every IT need. Whether its proactive support, an emergency call, long-term projects, or project management, ImagIT will deliver a solution that is customized to best fit your organization. Interested in learning more about working with ImagIT? Contact us today!
