By Gina Roos
Globo plc has signed a distribution agreement with Ingram Micro. The deal allows the IT services and logistics solutions provider to distribute Globo’s mobility solutions for the enterprise and the small- and midsize-business (SMB) market to authorized resellers in the United States and Canada.
Ingram Micro Mobility, a new business unit of Ingram Micro, will distribute Globo’s new product, GO!Enterprise—Enterprise Mobility in a Box (GO!Enterprise BOX). In February, Ingram Micro announced the rebranding of its mobility business, which combines Ingram Micro’s existing mobile group with BrightPoint, a provider of device lifecycle services. (Ingram Micro acquired BrightPoint in October 2012.)
“We recognize the importance of mobility and the IT solutions ecosystems,” said Bryan Hagedon, senior director, Business Division, Ingram Micro Mobility, North America. “We felt it was important to put a focus on mobility and bring different levels of value-added solutions to the table, and Globo is part of that.”
GO!Enterprise BOX enables small businesses with up to 150 devices to securely run and manage their bring your own device (BYOD) mobile workforce through the Globo cloud infrastructure. The solution provides everything required for enterprise mobility management, including productivity and collaboration tools, email accounts, file storage and cloud hosting. It also features an integrated development studio to create custom apps.
Another benefit to small businesses is the plug-and-play feature, which does not require IT resources or specialized knowledge to run the product.
Hagedon calls it an “integrated mobile solution,” a “starter kit” to help small businesses become more productive, enabling the mobilization of the workforce. The GO!Enterprise BOX is available on a pay-as-you-go annual licensing program, which minimizes up-front costs and ensures an exact match with business needs, according to the company.
“It is a packaged enterprise and mobile-device management solution for the small business,” said Hagedon. “IT organizations today are all about managing mobile ecosystems. Tablets and smart phones are an extension of the desktop, and there is no longer a mobile initiative under every CIO’s road map. It is IT’s initiative.”
According to a 2013 AT&T Small Business Technology Poll, which is based on a survey of 1,000 small businesses nationwide, 98 percent of small businesses use wireless technologies. The survey also finds that 85 percent of small businesses use smartphones in their operations—up from 42 percent five years ago—and 69 percent use tablets.