Google’s deal with Ingram Micro, one of the largest IT distributors in the world, is the first global distribution deal Google has negotiated, according to company officials. Google currently has localized reseller deals for its search appliances in various locations around the world, including Japan, Australia and Latin America.Dina Vieira, a spokesperson with Ingram Micro in Canada, said while the distribution agreement with Google is a global one, the initial roll-out will be focusing on the U.S. market. While the plan is to add other geographies down the road, including Canada, she said there is at present no timeline for when Ingram will begin distributing the Google appliances in Canada.
Google said Ingram Micro will focus on selling the Google Search Appliance and Google Mini to small and mid-size companies, and the education and government sectors. The two appliances are identical except for the number of documents supported. The Mini scales from 50,000 to 300,000 documents, and the full Search Appliance can handle 500,000.
Google says it has 9,000 search appliance customers, up from 7,000 in March.
Despite the deal with Ingram, Google plans to continue direct sales of its search appliances.
But the deal signals an important milestone for Google in establishing itself as a provider of corporate applications.
Critics have been watching Google emerge with the support, services, software tools and APIs that are starting to make the search giant look more like an enterprise applications provider. Google’s enterprise business, however, remains at approximately one per cent of its overall revenues.
But the company has made a series of separate deals and software advances over the past 12 to 14 months designed to ensure that it can answer questions from corporate users. Earlier last month, Google introduced migration tools to help companies move from their existing mail systems to the online suite Google Apps. And it recently introduced the Premier edition of that same suite, including support as part of the US$50-per-user fee.
Last October, the company launched its Google Enterprise Developer Program and an API to encourage developers to write modules that link corporate applications to its OneBox search features.
In February 2006, Google announced a partnership with BearingPoint, its first with a system and services integratior.
BearingPoint launched a practice focused on search using its own platform and Google’s APIs for integrating the Google Search Appliance with diverse corporate data stores.
Google also has smaller system integrators and professional services companies in the U.S. and Europe that are part of its Google Enterprise Professional Program, which was established in 2005 to help users deploy the Google Search Appliance.
The deal with Ingram Micro is not an exclusive deal, according to Google, which refused to say whether any more deals are imminent or how big of a distribution channel it plans to create.
“This is a large operation for Ingram and us, and we are going to take our time to do this right,” said Rodrigo Vaca, channel marketing manager for Google. “We are committed to working with them.”
The companies said the Search and Mini appliances, which are used to retrieve data housed on corporate networks, are available immediately from qualified Ingram Micro solution providers. The company has 165,000 providers, but not all of them will handle the Google appliances. Ingram also said it will create a reseller recruitment plan in select regions to identify and train suitable VARs.
