Ingram Micro ONE: Hope McGarry outlines opportunities emerging for Australian MSPs
At Ingram Micro ONE in Maryland in the United States recently, Ingram Micro Australia‘s Executive Managing Director, Hope McGarry (pictured), shared her insights into the forces shaping the local channel and the opportunities ahead for partners. She joined global colleagues, vendors and partners from across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Australia to highlight global technology trends across cloud, cyber security, AI, professional services and operational platforms.
McGarry used her time at Ingram Micro ONE to outline both the challenges facing MSPs at home and the momentum she is seeing among partners that are aligning tightly to business outcomes and growth technology stacks.
“We are a highly competitive market,” she said. “A recent study suggested that 91 per cent of MSPs in Australia have listed profitability as their number one concern,” McGarry added that capability constraints remain a significant challenge for partners. “The skill shortage that we face in Australia, particularly in the areas of cyber security, cloud and AI,” continues to impact growth potential, prompting partners to invest in upskilling their teams or seeking external support.
Market complexity is another factor shaping the environment. “Our ecosystem, which was once linear, is now evolving rapidly, and it is a 360 ecosystem,” she said. This shift includes new licensing models, multi cloud environments, multiple vendor solutions and customers expecting greater strategic insight from their providers.
Thriving MSPs show clear direction
Despite these pressures, McGarry said many Australian MSPs are performing strongly. The common link is clarity. “Where we see our MSPs with a very clear value proposition that they have defined and can execute against, we are seeing them have a great deal of success.” These partners also demonstrate a strong alignment to business outcomes, which continues to resonate with customers.
Those struggling, she said, tend to be the ones finding the complexity harder to navigate. “MSPs that are struggling with that complexity and not really able to navigate that are finding the market difficult,” she said. Understanding where they add value, and building capability within their accounts, is becoming essential.
Distribution’s expanding role
McGarry discussed how distribution is evolving to support partners in this environment. She said the company’s national Executive Connect program, which engaged 500 senior leaders this year, offered clear insights into where partners see opportunity and what they need to unlock it. “We work across so many vendors, and we are working with so many customers and partners each and every day. We get unique insight into where the partners are getting momentum.”
That visibility allows Ingram Micro to invest early in emerging areas. “We can invest ahead of the curve, make sure we have the right expertise and skill set to help get ahead of it and to augment our partner capabilities as well.”
Cyber security is a prime example. “We know that the cyber resiliency piece is absolutely critical,” she said. “Our partners are being asked to do more in that space. It is at the board level, conversation around Cyber Risk and Insurance that we’re seeing.” McGarry said the distributor has built internal capability to support partners directly or through white labelled services.
A people first culture anchoring partner success
McGarry says her motivation comes from the collective success of partners, vendors and her own team. “I have an amazing team, and I think leading people is such a privilege,” she said. “Leading my team and supporting our customers to be successful and our vendors is really the motivation.”
Seeing the wins across the ecosystem remains a major source of pride. “When we see our vendors growing, we see our partners winning, and we have played a role in that, it is exceptionally rewarding to see that.” She said the organisation shares the wins and challenges alongside partners. “We live, breathe, eat and sleep it. We celebrate a lot of that with our customers when we see them have success.”
From capability development to global scale, McGarry said the distributor’s priority remains consistent. “We truly are here to support our customers and our vendor success, and that is really all the motivation that myself and the team need.”
