Ingram Micro has significantly expanded their relationship with Acronis, but only part of the deal is relevant to the Canadian market.

Distributor Ingram Micro and Burlington MA-based data protection vendor Acronis have expanded their relationship in a multi-faceted deal, only part of which applies to Canada.

The announcement essentially has two parts. In the U.S., Acronis has been named an Ingram Micro preferred partner, building on their previous relationship. This makes Ingram the premier distributor of Acronis’ data protection and disaster recovery solutions, which cover virtual, physical, mobile and cloud environments.

Being a preferred Ingram Micro partner will also help raise Acronis’ profile with the distributor.

“A lot of the solutioning we do will be tied to that partnership,” said Jason Bystrak, Executive Director – The Americas at Ingram Micro Cloud. “Acronis will also be a big part of what we do at channel events.” For example, Acronis will be attending and spotlighting its data protection portfolio at Ingram’s ONE event next week in Nashville.

The expanded relationship in the U.S. covers the breadth of Acronis solutions. Canada, however, is different. The second part of the announcement expands Acronis’ cloud solutions available through Ingram Micro into many new markets — Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom – with more planned. Acronis’ cloud solutions had been available to resellers in the U.S. and Canada previously.

“For Canada, this is a cloud story,” Bystrak said. “While it was in Canada before, its availability in the cloud in these other countries now means that Canadian partners who have operations in other countries, will be able to extend it there as well.”

Bystrak said that they expect the expanded relationship will significantly boost Acronis’ business with Ingram Micro.

“They are fairly new in the marketplace, and the increased global focus will benefit Acronis in Canada,” he said.