28 June 2010 - It can be a long road to reemployment but I was prepared for that. In actuality it hasn't been that long since I was laid off from Ingram Micro, April 2nd of this year. Ingram was a fantastic company to work for. In the back of my mind I was hopeful that it would be a place to grow and possibly retire from in 15 or 20 years. But, things often happen way above our pay grade and often for reasons beyond our control
I was the first HP person hired under a new division, Infrastructure Technology Solutions (ITS), run by our VP Scott Look. (article CRN June 2007) I was interviewed by Scott on several occasions over the phone and immediately liked him. Scott was brought on board from Avnet and with him came several other people from there, Doug Bell and Carmen Alameno. Doug was also someone I spoke with during the interview and hiring process. Again, another person I was impressed with and someone I could learn a lot from. Carmen was the last to come on board after the team was in place and who I reported to.
Joel Capizzi had opened the door for me to this position at Ingram when he got wind of it. Joel was part of the HP BladeSystem team at IM working with partners in the field. He and I had connected at an HP event in Houston a year or so prior while I was at Bell Microproducts. Joel became my ISR and I was very lucky to have him. His understanding of HP and knowledge of Ingram was instrumental in my success.
We slowly started to build the team over the next 6 months. This started in Oct of 2007. Scott and Doug asked me to speak with potential candidates for Channel Account Manager (CAM), my counter part position, as well as Field Technicians. I'd then provide feedback on potential applicants.
Erik Eagleston and Todd van Uitert where two of the CAMs I spoke with and eventually hired. We had several other people on our team. It was a lot of talent. Unfortunately my Field Tech was new to HP and had a steep learning curve to tackle. He did well but was replaced within a year. The Field Tech was an important part of our team. I'm not super technical and when it came down to bits and bytes, I needed their talent.
It took time to understand the direction Ingram wanted to take this division, create a solid message and marketing for our partners and start driving to new business. I had a huge leg up on my counter parts except for Ron Falbo who came over from Bell Micro with me. Ron was covering NY. We had been working on exactly the same program at this distributor. But, it was easy to see that there wasn't enough resources to support the ramp up time and partner needs to sustain Bells channel strategy. That is why I went to Ingram. They had a lot more backing.
In 2008 I was selected to be in Ingram's Presidents Club. The trip was to Aruba for several days. I had not expected that and actually suggest it go to my ISR, Joel Capizzi. He did all the transaction end of the business and could use the break and a big thank you. Unfortunately it would have to pass to the next winner if I declined. So, I took my wife to the island of Aruba. We did have a good time.
My focus was on the partners in the Southwest at first, Southern CA, NM and AZ. I had been working this territory for over 7 years up to that point so there was a well established base of partner contacts. However, the new HP Storage program which created a lower entry level to HP Storage Authorization brought with it a new set of partners. Each week, month and quarter, I set myself goals on signing up partners. Once on board they had to purchase this product from Ingram and if they added BladeSystems or other qualified products, that would normally be open sourc, to a Value Big Deal letter, it too had to be purchased from Ingram.
Keeping up with HP changes and understanding the PartnerOne program was a key element in my strategy. My value add to the partner was being able to extract those elements that fit their business needs. But it took time to sit down with the owners and executive staff first to fully understand their business models. From there I could then determine what, within the PartnerOne program, would provide the greatest benefit. Partners loved this because so many of the smaller ones were not really being covered by HP any more. I was an extension of the HP field source.
I gained territory when in 2009 Ingram reduced the staff in our division. The person covering the Pacific Northwest was let go. My territory now grew from 2 1/2 states to 13 over night. I immediately found that I had a lot more potential. I had to connect with additional Ingram Account Executives (AE) and Business Development Managers (BDM) who were main contact on larger accounts. Early on I established solid relationships with these folks. Working with them opened a lot of doors and produced success via combined efforts.
Over the last 8 plus months the numbers were really topping the charts. Sales has started to roll in all areas as the market opened up the purse strings on budgets. Most partners now had smiles on their faces and the large pool I had signed with Ingram where finding a lot of business.
When I received the call that I was being laid off I was...shocked. The reason given was HP had cut funding which I had anticipated. When this division was created back in 2007 it was supported in part by HP who wanted to drive greater share of the storage market with several new distributors, Ingram Micro, Synnex and Tech Data. But it was to be a business that would at some point be self sustaining such as in our area when business was up and running.
The relationships I was building with partners was not just for the HP Storage but also included the Ingram entire offering. It was pretty regularly I would hear a partner talk about another part of their business while in a meeting that was an opportunity for the AE, BDM or some other division at Ingram. I can't tell you how many times I passed that along.
Even after leaving Ingram I've been receiving calls from partners with questions about HP, signing up for storage and who to speak with to find some help. Towards the end they will hear I'm no longer at Ingram and apologize for taking up my time. But to me, it's all a part of the value add I bring to the market. HP has been a focus in my career for the last 10 years all the way back to when I was first hired by Compaq. That history brings with it knowledge, points of contact, and understanding that can't be taught over night. The relationships I've built with partners is long standing. They trust my insight because I've taken the time to understand their business and how to help them grow and be successful.
