Ingram takes on Trend locally

Ingram Micro has signed an agreement to distribute Trend Micro anti-virus and spam protection software in Australia.

Ingram Micro globally had already signed with Trend Micro but the subsidiary had different arrangements in this country, the broad-based distributor said in a statement.

In the local deal, Ingram Micro Australia would offers Trend Micro's full line, such as the Trend Micro Client/Server SMB Suite. The new partnership would also strengthen the distributor's storage, networking and security portfolio locally and complement its existing vendor partnerships in those areas, the company said.

Rodney Thorne, a business manager in Ingram's storage, networking and security division, said the distributor wanted to develop further alliances with security specialists. Ingram Micro had also invested resources in training its technicians and salespeople to lift its chances in the security market.

“With Internet security threats emerging almost daily, virus protection is a hot issue for SMBs,” Thorne said.

Steve Clack, national channel and distribution manager at Trend Micro, said the deal was a natural progression for the vendor. Ingram Micro had a vast Australian reseller network, he said.

“We aim to deliver better [software] to the SMB market and confident Ingram Micro will play a pivotal role,” Clack said.