Ingram Micro, Synnex Shelve Shows Over Coronavirus Fears

Ingram Micro’s Cloud Summit, Spring Varnex, and Red, White & You, are the latest channel events that have been canceled or postponed as COVID-19 precautions take hold.

Two of the nations leading IT distributors have delayed or canceled upcoming shows as the impact from the spread of the coronavirus reverberates through the tech world.

Ingram Micro said it is postponing its upcoming Cloud Summit planned for Miami Beach until early next year. Meanwhile, Synnex yesterday said it would cancel all of its events between now and May 1, including its Spring Varnex show as well as the Red, White & You event that immediately follows, both of which were set to kick off in the coming weeks.

Synnex Senior Vice President of Marketing for North America, Bob Stegner, sent an email to partners yesterday saying all Synnex-sponsored events in the U.S. and Canada would be nixed. Varnex was scheduled to begin on March 28 while Red, White & You was expected to begin March 31.

“Over the next few days, we will determine if we will reschedule events in this period. We’re also assessing plans for events in May and beyond and will be in touch with additional information as we make formal decisions,” he wrote in a letter provided to CRN. “We appreciate your understanding as we move forward with this decision out of an abundance of caution for our reseller and vendor partners and associates and to remain consistent with our industry peers.”

Meanwhile late Wednesday, Ingram Micro announced that its Cloud Summit – which it has held annually since 2009 – would not kick off this year to protect “the health and safety of every participant and attendee.”

“We want to thank our speakers, partners, sponsors and the City of Miami Beach for their support in making this difficult—but correct—decision,” Adam Christensen, head of cloud global marketing and communications at Ingram Micro said in a statement. “We look forward to our next gathering of cloud leaders and innovators as we continue to support growth in the cloud ecosystem.”

Both companies called it a “difficult decision” but one that is necessary to safeguard the health of their partner community.

Mark Essayian, president of KME Computers Inc. in Lake Forest, Calif., said Ingram Micro is making the right call.

“It’s disappointing for sure, but I think they’re making the right call. If a leader goes to that event, and sits in all the sessions, and brings it back to their MSP, that’s the situation they’re trying to avoid,” he said. “They’re being responsible. Given the environment we’re in, its just intelligent.”