Unpacking the benefits of Cisco’s Enable AI offering

You're listening to B to B Tech Talk with ingram Micro, a place to learn about how to grow your business and stay ahead of technological advances before they become mainstream. This episode is sponsored by ingram Micro's Expantage, the Next Level way to transform your business's potential and reshape how customers see you through advanced transactional data. Let's get into it. Welcome to B to B Tech Talk with Ingram Micro.

I'm your host, Shelby Skirhawk, and today we are talking about AI and how it's changing the way that channel partners deliver value to their customers. So today we'll explore ingram Micro's new AI program, Enable AI and Cisco's important role with this initiative. So joining me are two experts, Joyce Hoffman and John McNelly at ingram Micro First. Joyce is a global director of AI Innovation Partnerships.

She leads to Enable AI program and that's kind of helping partners grow their AI businesses. So Joyce, welcome, Thank you. I'm really excited to share what we've been working on, let's say, over the last year and why Enable AI is such an important initiatives for partners. We're actually have series about building a scalable eye practice and maybe to get some context about myself.

I've been working out for Ingram for ten years now and before stepping into my current role, did a few other things. But I also ran the sales team for a cloud division in the Netherlands and they're actually work directly with partners and went with partners to their end customers to help them, you know, solve business challenges and adopt new technology. So that experience actually gave me deep understanding on what partners need to need to succeed and whether it's the right tools, guides services, but also why programs like enable AI a really critical.

Excellent So you've seen it from kind of from both ends there, right. Yeah. Also also we have John McNelly. He is senior technical enablement engineer.

He specializes in Cisco technologies. So John, welcome and it's great to have you with us. Yeah, thanks very much, Shelby. Yeah, I have to echo what Joyce said.

I know, we're very excited about the partnership between Ingram Micro and Cisco. We've been working on this program for quite some time now. Cisco has really been pushing forward and trying to be a leading edge of the AI migration within the data center, and it's we think that Ingram Micro is really going to give a great opportunity for Scale. To give a little background about myself, I've been with Ingram Micro for about six years.

Prior to that, I worked for Cisco directly, and I've been customer facing and end user facing for the better part of twenty years to date myself a little bit, but it's Yeah, it's great to be on with you and look forward to discussing. This excellent off Then Joyce, let's go ahead and give some context then, so can you explain what enable AI is and how it helps partners? Yeah? Sure, and trying to stay concise here, there's a lot to talk about.

But enable AI is basically a very comprehensive enablement program and just like the name suggests, designed to help partners succeed with AI by really focusing on delivering real business outcomes. Whether a partner is just getting started or already has some experience, the program really provides a clear and actionable path forwards. And I would say at a score, enable AI is about helping partners sell more AI by focusing on outcomes that matters most to their end customers like improving productivity, enhancing customer experiences, but also security of the systems and operations for example, and these outcomes that I just mentioned, that is what we call the peaks in our program, and our job is really to equip partners with everything they need to reach them and then the program works step by step and guides partners along their AI journey.

That starts with an assessment to understand where they are and what their customers need, and then it goes into providing foundational training through what we call base camps, and these base camps build both the technical and the business skills that are needed to take the next step, for example, as from their partners really follow those vendor specific thrills like Cisco's to learn really how to deploy AI solutions effectively. So I will close with that, you've heard terms such as peaks and basecams.

We're using the mountaineering team to really emphasize this journe Just like climbing a mountain, partners need to write guide, gear, and path to succeed and enable AI is really designed to provide all three and guiding them thru the AI and the world of AI building expertise and equipping them with the right tools and resources they need, and then also showing them the clear, actionable path to deliver on those real results working together with our vendor partners. Okay, so enabling AI literally enabling AI for a partner's customer.

What you're saying is that the program is it takes you through the various outcomes, looking at you know, the productivity, the customer experience, the security, all those things that are of top of mind for customers. And this is a kind of a program to take it step by step. And I love a good and a good analogy, so the climbing the mountain is definitely definitely appropriate. Well, so let me ask, then, what makes enable AI different from other programs.

Well, that's a good question, and at first, it's truly about enabling any AI technology. It's not just limited to let's say the hardware or the software side only, but the full stack. And I would say on top of that, it's designed to support multi vendor solutions. And that's a key differentiator because businesses today they don't think in vendor sizers.

They need to, you know, like they need solutions that work and then work together seamlessly. And enable AI is built to make that happen. So what makes it unique is also that it's a comprehensive approach, So it combines data, insights, training, technology support, and also deployment services into one clear and structured journey. And every aspect of the program is really focused on solving these these business problems and delivering outcomes.

And I would highlight two things as well, Like one is every AI journey starts with data and which is why we have actually expanded our professional services portfolio into including robust data services and these services and ensure that partners and that customers actually are ready for AI from the ground up addressing foundational needs like data readiness, integration, scalability. And then the last I would say is really standout feature of Enable AI is the use of right Advantage platform and to create those tailored journeys for each partner at Skill.

And we don't just provide tools and training, We guide partners really step by step building their confidence and capabilities and then at the same time offer a great experience which is fully customized to their maturity. And that level of customization combined with let's say INGRAM strengths and the program's multi vendor supports. I would say nkes enable AI really unique and at all in one platform. Yeah, And I'd like to add on to that just a little bit by really agreeing with what Joy said around meeting our partners where they are right.

Something that's very exciting to the Cisco BU specifically is, you know, we have a wide variety of partners at different partnership levels within Cisco, and they are very different portions of their AI journey. Some of them are still just looking at data center refresh and how to attack networking. Some of them are looking at next generation computing. Some of them have a fully mature AI practice but are looking to augment with services.

So what the Enabled AI program really brings to the table is a forum for those partners, regardless of their starting point, to understand where they are in that journey and then really to get the tools and support and business value that they need from Ingram Micro to successfully sell across the entire vendor portfolio from Cisco specifically. And I see the value, I mean I truly see the value being able to pull together all of those those vendors that you know, the more data that AI has and the more access an ability to be able to cross platforms and create a complete picture for the customer is obviously the most productive use of this AI.

Well, so let's bring in Cisco then, Joyce. Why is Cisco such an important part of enable AI. Yeah, Cisco is a key part of enable AI because they actually offer a broad portfolio of products right from software to hardware that cover most importantly a wide range of different use cases. That's for sure why they are a key part and so important.

Also, I would also say that they collaborate with other vendors in our program as well, like Nvidia to name to name just one, to create actually those true multi vendor engagements and solutions, and that ability actually to integrate and partner so well with other technologies that make Cisco really a perfect fit if you ask me for enable AI. Yeah, yeah, I'd like to add on to that. That's one of the values that Cisco sees. You know, we understand that AI from a deployment perspective is really a team sport, right.

Cisco has a very broad portfolio that has a huge number of the constituent parts of a successful AI deployment. But at the end of the day, it does require vendors to cooperate with one another so that we can attack issues within security, so that we can attack issues and performance and observability. And I think what this program really brings to the table and is additive for Cisco is that comprehensive look at the vendor landscape for our partners so that they can move with confidence to solve the problems for their end user customers kind of without having to worry that they're getting too much of a single vendor spin.

This is truly an environment where you could build a best in class solution through the services and vendor selection that Ingram micro brings to the table and kind of has a little bit of an afterthought, We're getting some feedback from the marketplace that you know, Ingram and Cisco working so tightly together has brought kind of a best to breed solution to the table today, and I think we're a little bit ahead of the game, frankly. So, John, will you explain Cisco's involvement in the program?

I mean, Cisco it does. It's got a lot of offerings and a lot to dive into there. So what is Cisco's involvement and what technology partners you are involved here. Yeah, so Cisco's involvement.

You know, we've been working tightly with Joyce's team to really kind of understand how the enabled program works and figure out where both Ingram and Cisco can hold hands and slot together to fill customer needs. The reality is that AI as a deployable solution requires services, but it also requires a lot of actual physical hardware and a lot of software components. So from Cisco's perspective, the entire vendor portfolio has AI components in it. We view security almost as importantly as networking, networking, almost as importantly as compute.

Cisco has deep relationships with Nvidia and other key vendors in the AI space that we're leveraging on the Cisco product development side as well as leveraging partnerships around the services. What we're seeing is that as we discuss how next year is going to shape up, for a lot of our key partners that we've been having this discussion with, they're looking at how do we attack use cases around productivity, around customer experience, around security, and what technologies do we need to put in place to achieve that.

One of the product platforms that's recently been released by Cisco is their AI pods solutions and if anyone's familiar with reference architectures, this is a CVD based so a Cisco validated design technology that takes the compute, the network and the storage, puts it together behind what's called the Cisco Validated design that really gives you the ability to address small, medium, large, extra large deployment types in verticals like retail, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, you know kind of the key places where AI is really developing quickly.

So from Cisco's perspective, when we put together the technological expertise around the hardware, the software component that lays on top for both security as well as observability within the infrastructure to ensure performance and maintainability, we think that Cisco, combined with the services brought from Ingram Micro, really puts their best foot forward to deliver an end to end solution. So then let's talk about how Cisco's AI strategy is different than how does Cisco's AI strategy stand out then compared to what other tech companies are doing.

Certainly, yeah, I'd say that something that's unique with Cisco, especially in the distribution spaces that we've tried to be early adopters. When it comes to programs like the Enabled a AAI program, we have a strong belief in the product portfolio that we have for AI, and we also see the value in the services that ingram Micro can bring to the table. One of the things that's unique to Cisco in a lot of ways is that Cisco's a platform company. So when we look at the compute and network constituent parts of an AI deployment, as well as all the observability and software overlay that takes place, we can do an end infrastructure solution.

So when you do a deployment based on Cisco networking technologies and Cisco compute technologies and then layover Cisco's security technologies, it gives you a really tightly integrated for a lot of technological reasons other than just practical reasons, it's a really tightly integrated solution. So I think when you're looking at cost, performance value, things like Cisco Validated Designs, the CBDs that the aipods are based on, they really provide you with the workload designs and it's a prescriptive piece of technology that allows you to go from the beginning of a project to project completion.

Both faster and with a higher rate of success. Some of the other facets of that CBD based deployment really impacts performance, support, maintenance, and upgradeability. So you don't have to manage the infrastructure as disjointed parts. You look at it kind of as a holistic environment.

In today's AI practice, really the network has become the biggest bottleneck as compute power has increased so radically, So addressing network and looking at that component from a performance perspective is critical right now. Well, so, John, I wonder if you can meet talking about this journey. Can you walk us through an example of an AI trail for Cisco within you enable AI. Yeah, certainly.

I mean we could talk about the AI pod still since that is the newest and hottest product out from Cisco at the moment. As it relates to AI, the AI pods, they're a single skewed product. So as I mentioned, you can think of it as an AI deployment in a box to some degree. It's a complete infrastructure with compute and network and storage involved.

Is based on those CBDs and their purpose built for AI workloads, and it doesn't really matter on the size. They can range from small edge U use cases all the way up to kind of the most sophisticated gen AI deployments that are in the enterprise space today. And Joyce alluded to this earlier, but something that's critical that Ingram Micro is bringing to the table for these trails is the process in which partners go through, So the assessment, the use case identification, the proof of concept that Ingram Micro can bring to bear through our center of excellences, so we have physical locations that will have the full fully deployed AI infrastructure for partners to look at, work with and create proof of concepts, then moving into that, moving from that into implementation and then the affiliated professional services.

Those are all the kind of critical steps to get the infrastructure deployed. Now, what we're also focused on is that customer experience piece. So we want to look at the not the end of this project, because this is a continuum from upgrading and maintaining and infrastructure. We can provide the customer experience training, We can look at user adoption.

We can make sure that the systems that are being deployed are actually being used and leveraged in the way that the end user customer intended them to be and what that really does is it translates directly into value. So we're looking at is how do we put together a success plan that can really show a strong ROI in the shortest amount of time. And to interject, you mentioned you Ingram Micro having these setups. You're talking about the Business Transformation Center.

Yeah. Absolutely, So we have the Business Transformation Center as one of our key locations, and globally, we're actually setting up centers of excellence specifically for AI in all of our constituent global regions, so that no matter where you are in the world or what type of use cases you need to leverage, Ingram Micro will have the physical infrastructure available for executive briefings as well as proof of concept. Got it? Got it?

Okay, Well let me turn to you Joyce. How do these trails then, I guess, align with the overall goals for enable AI. Yeah. Well, the trills in enable AI are all about delivering business outcomes, and I heard John talking about that, which is great.

Partners can choose trills for the Cisco iPods to keep with that example, that align with their business outcomes in the spaces of for example, customer experience. As John mentioned in industries of their customers such as also retail, manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, or they can follow trills around the ciscoaipods that are more focused on you know, let's say business cases in more functional domains such as in sales or HR departments. But what's most important that trills go beyond just teaching the partners how to use the technology and how to make the AI pod work.

It's all about making them outcome ready and to apply that in a in a real world use case. So that's basically how how it aligns really well with the overall goal of what Enable AI is is aiming to achieve. So we've gone over a lot, and I think maybe the question that the listener may have will obviously you know, we're want to answer kind of next steps, like what would be their their next step? Joye to I guess to get started with Enable AI and Cisco solutions.

Well, for anyone listening, I would say to step it very simple. Reach out to John I mean seriously though, right like, reach out to your Ingram wrap and we will guide you through the assessments phase for step to really figure out where you are in your journey, where the opportunities lie in your customer base, and then from there we will help you identify basically the best base camps for your teams to build some of those foundational skills and really prepare you before you basically going on the diverse trills that we've built with Cisco.

And also whether you're just you know, new to AI and starting or you're really advanced, it really doesn't matter. You know, Enable AI is here to guide you every step of the way. And I'm very sure in anything Cisco you will meet with John. Yeah, yeah, yes, most definitely.

And I would say that, you know, the focus from enable AI, from Cisco's perspective that's really strong is around understanding those business outcomes that Joyce mentioned. You know, we work every day with our partners to understand the goals of their end users and really help drive that business so that we can provide the technology resources that they need to really have a successful project and a successful plan with their end user customers. So, you know, I think that through Cisco's deep relationship with Ingram and then now the participation within the Enabled AI program at Ingram, you know, we really have a strong position to be able to create success for partners.

And I'll go ahead and ask for Joyce mentioned, you know, for the partner that is really just getting started on their AI journey or they're very advanced in it, I guess I'll ask the question for that partner that in terms of helping their customers start their AI journey. What about the partner that really hasn't even hasn't even started that, you know, they may may almost be embarrassed about how how far they are at the starting line. What would you say to them? All?

We can alder that together, right, this is really a guided pathway to help you really no meta where you are, and every step of the journey is guided by us. So we can even go into customer conversation together or run workshops or even together in a joint motion with the vendor. But most first and foremost before we basically ask partners to have those conversations with their customers to go after those opportunities. By the extensive preparation that goes into this program, and that partners will you follow through this program, We will make sure they get prepared the right way, They go to the necessary base camps accordingly before starting to have a conversation with the customers.

So even that is all prepared, so nobody has to worry going in front of a customer, let's say, and not being able to fulfill the opportunity and lose it to the competition, right right. Well, as we start to wrap up our episode, I'd love our listeners if there's kind of any final takeaways or any any summary that if they got anything from this episode, what's the big thing? What's the headline then that they should understand and joyce. I'll start with you.

Well, for me, it's like AI is no longer just a future opportunity, right, It's here, It's for everyone. It's already transforming how businesses operate and innovate. It's in your personal life too, whether it's a voice system at home, or recommendation engines at websites, or even AI that helps map your you know, your route to work. So why not take advantage of this in your business as well?

And the opportunities for partners in particular is message. It requires preparation and the right tools and the confidence to deliver those outcomes. Yes, but as customers are expecting, you know, faster decision making, enhanced personalization and really proactive security, it's important to go on this journey and as exciting. We know that these opportunities are I also understand that the speed of AI, especially AI innovation, is also outpaced seeing the skills and the resources of many businesses, right, And that's really exactly why programs like enable AI are so critical.

They don't just provide the tools in the technology. It really helps partners to build that expertise and that confidence that they need to succeed in this I can say AI driven world, So you know, the time is to act now, and partners who invest in THEI practice today will not only stay competitive, but also be able to position themselves as leaders in really reshaping different industries. So it's everywhere. Let's make sure it's working for your business too.

I would say in close with that, John, how about you, Yeah. I would just I would like to reiterate kind of the enthusiasm that Cisco's bu has around enable AI and AI in general. You know, we see the same things that Joyce just mentioned that AI is here, right. The market says that it is.

I think that the future says that it is, and Ingram really is dedicated to transforming the mid market landscape as it relates to enabling and deploying AI projects. So whether it's a small edge case or all the way up to a complete deployment, you know Ingram is here to support those. One of the real key opportunities that we see is around refreshes. So when partners are looking at moving to modern architectures within their environments, especially around networking compute, there's some planning that's required to really prepare for what's coming in the next few years.

So there's really an opportunity to be consultative as a partner and to deliver a message that is strong to the end user customers of our partners. Excellent, Well, Joyce and John. I appreciate all of the time and the insight today. Thank you so much for joining me.

Thank you, thank you, Thank you listeners for tuning in subscribing to B to B Tech Talk with Ingram Micro. If you haven't subscribed, be sure to do so and don't forget that you can find all of these episodes on the Ingram Micro Advantage Plan. Until next time. I'm Shelby Skarehawk.

You've been listening to B to B Tech Talk by Ingram Micro. This episode was sponsored by Ingram Micro Exvantage B to B Tech Talk is a joint production between Sweetfish Media and ingram Micro. To listen to this episode and many others, visit ingrammicro dot com.