Ingram Micro has announced that Paul Bay, previously the company’s executive vice president for North America, will take on the role of president over its business on this continent.

It will be a staged transition, as current Ingram North America president Keith Bradley is stepping down to pursue other interests, the company said. Bradley will remain with the company through March 1 of next year to help with the transition, and Bay will carry the title of acting president until that date.

Ingram Micro Canada general manager Mark Snider said that since Bay came back to the distributor in 2010, he’s been “very involved” in the company’s Canadian business.

“He has a strong understanding of our market, our vendors, and our customers,” Snider said. “Paul has been integral in helping us successfully implement our go-to-market strategies including the introduction of our Advanced Divisions and Mobility practice.”

Snider said Bay has played “a key role” in developing Ingram’s overall business strategy, summarized by the slogan “Excel, Strengthen, and Develop.” It’s a familiar theme to many Ingram Micro partners, particularly those in the VentureTech Network community, as Bay presented on that very topic at the spring VTN Invitational earlier this year.

“We’re expecting a smooth transition of leadership and continued execution against our stated North American strategies,” Snider said.

Bay echoed Snider’s comments that he intends to maintain a very active presence in the company’s Canadian operations. Snider, and therefore Ingram Micro Canada, has long reported into Bay, and Bay said he has “worked very closely with Mark … to set our country strategy and execute against our goals and objectives.”

“I learn so much, and really enjoy the direct interaction I have with our partners in Canada and the U.S., and will remain very active in our partner communities and at industry events.”

Bay listed a number of priorities for the North American business as we steam towards 2013:

• A continuing focus on “using analytics to steer the success of the channel.” The distributor has been using some new analytical options with its VTN partners, and Bay promised that “you can expect to see more on that front in 2013.”
• Further development of Renée Bergeron’s Ingram Micro Cloud division, which has become a very important part of the distributor’s overall business.
• More focus on mobile, an area where Ingram has focused its energies in both the U.S. and Canada.
• A growing Pro audio/video and digital signage business, one that is relatively new to the Canadian marketplace.
• The continuing evolution of how businesses acquire technology, with cloud, and with growing trends like consumerization and BYOD.

“It’s an exciting time in the IT channel,” Bay said. “There’s lots of opportunity in play for our partners and more to come in 2013.”