Recovery-as-a-Service (RaaS) provider Axcient has expanded its strategic alliance with distributor Ingram Micro. Both companies will invest more resources in the relationship. Axcient will also go forward with Ingram Micro as its sole distribution partner in both the U.S. and Canada.

“Axcient began its business selling directly to MSPs, so had a direct channel relationship with its partners,” said Ken Sims VP of Business Development at Axcient. “Axcient then developed multiple distribution relationships with all three broadline distributors – Ingram Micro, Tech Data and SYNNEX – and found it was very difficult for a company of our size to manage those three distribution relationships effectively.”

Sims said that having decided that distribution remained in Axcient’s best interest, they then concluded that Ingram Micro was the best single option for them among the broadline distributors.

“All three were very interested in trying to create a cloud strategy, but we believe there is a pretty  dramatic difference in terms of the evolution of their thinking around cloud strategy and  the resources they dedicate to it,” Sims said. “Far and away, Ingram had a much better story. They were best at transitioning a reseller partner into a service provider partner. That’s something we don’t do well – convince them to change their business model as well as do business with us.”

Sims said Ingram Micro has more people on dedicated on cloud services and cloud infrastructure [where they fit in] than competitors, and that makes a world of difference.

“Their presales support organization has nine engineers all trained on Axcient,” he said. “That expands my resources by three times.”

Sims said Ingram Micro has made a major impact on their business.

“In the early days of Axcient we had smaller partners,” he said. “The Ingram rep got us in to meet with key resellers who we couldn’t even get to return our calls before. The service provider partners they bring us are higher quality, and do bigger deals. They have 4000 plus cloud service providers. When I look at new partners to go after, that group is it. Their Ingram Cloud Summit event was the single most productive event we went to last year, and so we are a Gold Sponsor of this year’s event, April 7-9, which is unusual for a company our size.”

Sims said the decision to work exclusively with Ingram Micro will mean increased commitment of resources by both.

“There are some real commitments around money to be spent and revenue targets on both sides,” he said.

This article originally appeared on eChannelLine.com.