Ingram Micro wins Microsoft SPLA deal

Ingram Micro has inked a deal with Microsoft for distribution of the services provider licence agreement (SPLA) licensing in New Zealand.

SPLA allows service providers to license Microsoft products for the provision of private cloud – one of Microsoft’s largest growth areas locally and globally – and other hosted services. The deal provides a pay-as-you-go option for resellers, with no startup costs or long-term commitments. Providers pay for the services delivered to their customers, on a month by month basis.

Barbara Kid, Ingram Micro Microsoft business manager, says the deal means Ingram Micro is once again offering Microsoft’s full suite of licensing options, including on-premise open licensing for businesses, private cloud licensing for hosts via SPLA and public cloud licensing for businesses with Office 365 Open, Intune Open and Azure in Open.

Frazer Scott, Microsoft New Zealand chief marketing and operations officer, says the appointment of Ingram Micro as a SPLA distributor completes its Microsoft offering, allowing customers ‘the simplicity of a one-stop shop for all their licencing needs’.

Adds Kid: “We’re very focused on growing our smaller partners and this means we can provide them with the full story, so they can offer the right solutions to their customers.

She says Ingram Micro has the widest database of resellers in New Zealand, with many smaller resellers looking for practical ways of providing hosted solutions.

The SPLA deal comes just weeks after Microsoft launched its Azure cloud services in Australia and Kid says that opens the door for smaller resellers who can’t afford to set up their own data center, to offer hosted solutions using Azure out of Australia.

Kid says the New Zealand SPLA team has benefited from the experience of Ingram Micro US, who have been training the local team.

Ingram Micro has a dedicated SPLA market development manager, who had previously been handing Microsoft open licensing.

The deal is not exclusive.