Ingram Micro’s New Dell, VMware Leader Is Channel Star Curtiz Gangi

‘The entire [infrastructure] portfolio for Dell is growing, and it’s only getting stronger. Ingram is leading that globally. VMware is leading fast with innovation. And that’s what this industry needs,’ says Curtiz Gangi, Ingram Micro’s new director of global partner engagement for Dell and VMware.

Eaton’s Curtiz Gangi Becomes Ingram Micro’s New Dell, VMware Channel Leader

Channel veteran Curtiz Gangi has left Eaton after a stellar 15-year tenure to become Ingram Micro’s new worldwide director of global partner engagement for Dell Technologies and VMware.

“It’s exciting. It’s humbling. I’m thrilled. I have every positive emotion you could have. This is really a great fit for me,” said Gangi in an interview with CRN. “I’ve always appreciated how this industry moves to the ‘next’ and always wants to inspire and aspire to be better. I see that in Ingram on a day-to-day basis and I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to be in the thick of it. ... So for me in this role as a global leader owning the relationship between Dell and VMware, I get to be in the middle now of the vendor and partners who are trying to transform and drive this as-a-service world that we live in.”

Gangi has been awarded CRN’s distinguished Channel Chief recognition several times over the years for roles at Eaton by helping the power infrastructure and management vendor elevate its channel strategy over the past 15 years. Gangi left Eaton as the company’s vice president of U.S. channels, data center sales.

Prior to joining IT distribution giant Ingram Micro, Gangi already held a deep technical and channel knowledge of Dell and VMware from being part of Eaton’s vendor alliances team. His industry tenure spans over 28 years of experience in the power and data center market, including around channel go-to-market strategies.

In his new role as director of global partner engagement, he’s responsible for the overall global strategy of Dell and VMware, plus any related global investment in business initiatives such as services, operations and marketing.

In an interview with CRN, Gangi talks about what he likes about Dell Technologies and VMware, leaving Eaton, as well as the benefits he’ll bring to the table.

“The entire [infrastructure] portfolio for Dell is growing, and it’s only getting stronger. Ingram is leading that globally,” said Gangi. “VMware is leading fast with innovation. And that’s what this industry needs.”

What’s your view on Dell and VMware as they both evolve their IT portfolio and go-to-market strategies in the new as-a-service, hybrid cloud world?

What gets me excited is their passion to transform this industry with their partners—they both are channel-first companies. Let’s be honest, they’re investing heavily in bringing innovative technologies forward to the partner community, and Ingram’s helping them along that path. That’s the exciting part. So whether you talk about Apex as-a-service as they begin to launch that out over the course of the next month throughout the globe, that’s exciting. Their partnership with VMware, to be able to bring those services forward in a coordinated fashion, is exciting to see those two innovate together.

On the VMware side, their passion to move the industry forward into their third chapter and the partners along with them, how can this not be an exciting time, right? With all the innovation they just announced at VMworld, and to know that we have been intimately engaged in those conversations along the way and providing our feedback and direction in how we can help them accelerate the adoption of those innovations, is amazing.

[VMware global channel chief] Sandy Hogan is a fantastic channel leader. [Dell global channel chief] Rola Dagher on the Dell side is a fantastic channel leader. They’ve been very on par with what the industry needs from them and what they’re able to deliver. So I’m pretty humbled to be a part of this right now because I’m seeing both organizations quickly pivot, mov, and go—and Ingram’s doing the same.

The crescendo on this from an Ingram perspective is that we’ve already built these platforms that these two great companies are leveraging. We’ve got CloudBlue, we’ve got our marketplaces, we have very intelligent people on the front-end services side in security and the cloud that have already been able to provide to Dell and VMware our expertise. We have global investments in people and process and platform. That’s a good thing.

What’s one thing you like about Dell’s market vision and channel strategy right now?

I’m going to be very direct with you about this, seeing their focus and investments and commitment to the reseller community, not only on the CSG [Client Solutions Group] side, but on the ISG [Infrastructure Solutions Group] side—being able to bring forward new storage platforms, the competency and enablement training that they are providing—is tremendous.

Yes, Apex is at the forefront of this and that is transformational for not only the partner but for Dell included, but the way that Rola and the Dell team over there is 100 percent channel-focused, it’s impressive. Because that’s not necessarily the press that they get, that’s not necessarily some of the feedback that we hear, but that just isn’t the case. So what I appreciate is their top of mind when it’s channel. And that’s a huge thing.

The entire ISG portfolio for Dell is growing and it’s only getting stronger. Ingram is leading that globally.

What’s one thing you like about VMware’s market vision and channel strategy?

VMware is leading fast with innovation. And that’s what this industry needs. Certainly they have leadership that has been there for a long time who has been a part of driving them through their second chapter as an organization.

I love VMware’s message and all the announcements and all the projects that they have going on—it’s focused. It’s not that these are fragmented strategies or projects that they’re implementing; they’re focused and they’re channel-led. That’s the most impressive thing in the three weeks and four days since I’ve been here. I’ve been very fortunate to participate in certain events as well as meetings to get me up to speed on how much both VMware and Dell are committed.

From the VMware side on VCPP [VMware Cloud Provider Program] globally, we are having a ton of success. I think these are very positive things that are happening outside of the consumer piece of the business, which we know is incredibly important and we know is going to probably continue to grow based on Microsoft’s release of [Windows] 11, but let’s not forget these are two very focused innovative, data center-forward organizations.

With your vast history at Eaton, what’s your message to Eaton channel partners?

At the end of the day, I have a lot of pride in what we were able to accomplish as an organization. Certainly, I appreciate what the opportunities were to build that business. I think it has been left in very capable hands, as far as the core business is concerned, and it is moving in the right trajectory. They continue to be a force.

To the Eaton partners, these are some of the same partners that I will continue to engage with in support of our relationship here at Ingram with Dell and VMware. So I’ve already spoken to a number of these core leaders in the solution provider community about this change that I’ve made and about the benefits to their business and me being in this position because I can think about the partners first.

That’s my message to them, that I’m still here for them.

What are you bringing to the Ingram Micro table?

My 28 years in the industry have taught me a lot, certainly, but I will tell you it’s my eye on the partner. It’s that other perspective from outside looking in at both being a partner—a technology alliance partner with Dell and VMware for 15 years, being a distribution partner from the vendor side of Ingram—it goes a long way for me to be a customer and partner of both of them to lend a little different energy and a little different perspective into what has been going on in the core business and how we need to move to transform.

Quite honestly, I’ll give [The Channel Company’s] IPED community and the Channel Leadership Forum and my peers a great deal of credit. They gave me a foundation to be able to look past what’s in front of them and look to the future. The things that IPED and the Channel Leadership Forum is doing today: moving our industry forward, customer success, as-a-service, cloud marketplaces—these are all at the top of our mind and we’re creating processes and procedures to help our solution provider community embrace this. That’s where I can bring forward those learnings and even some of that development work that we did on the IPED front into these discussions and see what fits and how we can leverage it.

What’s your message to the channel as Ingram Micro’s new director?

My message to the channel is to look right in front of them. Ingram has a lot invested in processes, procedures and financial programs that can help them transform their business. So pick up the phone and call me. I’ve always been available to listen and to make sure that they’re connected with the right tools and services that Ingram can bring forward on behalf of Dell and VMware.