Ingram rolls out MS licensing
Distributor to launch service across Europe after UK trial
Ingram is set to roll out its same-day Microsoft licensing process across Europe, after trialling the service in the UK since July, and is looking to extend the service to other vendors.
The distributor said it hopes to be able to provide a two-hour turnaround on licences.
However, rival distributors already offer similar services. Computer 2000 (C2000) has claimed a one-hour turnaround, while Bell Microproducts offers a service using its XML-based platform.
Greg Lockton, Ingram's European business development director, said Ingram hopes to expand the service to other vendors' products. "If the vendors are capable of doing it, we will take advantage of it," he said.
Alex Tatham, vice-president of global software at Bell, claimed: "Licensing is one of our strong points, and we have outrageously good market share at the moment. Our VARs can invoice the customer within an hour of coming to us.
"If Ingram is improving its service levels, that's good, but it has some way to go to catch us and C2000 in the UK."
Richard Hales, general manager for software at C2000, said: "This is fantastic - Ingram Micro is catching us up now. You can buy market share quite easily, but Ingram has a real breadth of resellers, and that's a strength."