smartstoriesIngram Micro Helps ILIS Beat Competitors

to Win a $1 Million Digital Signage Contract

ILIS is a national IT solutionsintegrator with more than 95percent of its business dedi-cated to serving federal, stateand local government agencies,as well as education. When itcame to competing against 28other national vendors to bidon a $1 million digital signageproject for the DenverInternational Airport, a relation-ship with Ingram Micro helpedILIS win the deal.

How It All Began “We take a lot of pride in the level of support that weoffer customers,” says BobIlis, the company’s president.“Around 2008, when we won a $600,000 contract withDenver, it was our quick fulfillment that made themextremely happy. A year later a $1 million opportunity cameup and Ingram Micro wasnaturally part of the solution.”

Price, ability to fulfill andcustomer support were three

major drivers in Denver’s choiceof a partner among 28 othervendors, many of which weremuch larger businesses thanILIS. Other factors included:

• Speed and quality of fulfillment

• Level of pre- and post-sale support

• Strong relationships with manufacturers

• Large presence compared to competitors

• Financial stability and capability to deliver

• Past performance and references

“We worked closely withIngram Micro and NEC tocommunicate our value toDenver. Our level of post-salesupport from the first projecthelped make Denver feelcomfortable enough tocontinue doing business withus,” says Bob. “And Denverwas thorough on selecting aprovider, so Ingram Micro’slarge presence and industry

reputation made us stand out. I see future businessopportunities with Denver.”

Bringing It Together Bob attributes his company’ssuccess with the Denveropportunity to strong competi-tive analysis and evaluationand Ingram Micro’s pre- andpost-sale support resources,as well as to the distributor’sstrong manufacturer relation-ships. “Ingram Micro’s teams

ILISWilmington, Del.

Market SegmentEducation; federal, state

and local government

Challenge/OpportunityCreate a bid and

solution to win a $1million digital signage

opportunity against 28national competitors.

SolutionTake advantage of

Ingram Micro’s industry reputation, manufacturer

relationships, competitivepricing and pre- and post-sale support to

show value and make the end user—a large international airport—

feel comfortable doing business with ILIS.

Results ILIS not only won this

significant contract, butalso sees many future

business opportunitieswith the customer.

smartstoriesIngram Micro Helps ILIS Beat Competitors

to Win a $1 Million Digital Signage Contract

© 2011 Ingram Micro Inc. All rights reserved. Ingram Micro and the Ingram Micro logo are trademarks used underlicense by Ingram Micro Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. 8/10 CS2011.s1s2

were very responsive to ourinquiries, even after hours. Itscompetitive pricing; solid rela-tionships with its manufacturerpartners—in this case, NEC—and fast and reliable deliverymake it easy to commit to thecustomer,” says Bob.

Why Digital Signage? Entering the digital signagespace required special consid-eration for ILIS. “We saw astrong demand for digitalsignage in IT. It’s a growingmarket,” says Bob. But to getthere, the team needed toconduct due diligence toensure that digital signagewas a good match betweencustomer demand and ILISbusiness strategy.

Once the decision was made,ILIS reached out to IngramMicro. “Ingram Micro invitedus to its digital signage bootcamp in New Orleans inSeptember 2010,” says Bob.“The training helped usquickly strengthen our expertise and get deeper intodigital signage.”

Advice to Others Bob’s advice to others echoeshis company’s approach toentering a new market. “If youhave the capabilities to getinto digital signage, do it. It’snot saturated and there’s lotsof opportunity,” says Bob. “Besure to realistically evaluatehow your business strategy

fits with the long digitalsignage sales cycle. It’s not aquick process. While digitalsignage is attractive, you needto be realistic. It’s a highprofit-margin business, but ittakes time to build it. Onceyou are there, you will bepleased with the results.”

As for the success at theDenver International Airport,Bob says, “We’re very pleasedwith the work and supportIngram Micro has provided forus. It helps us maintain ourexisting customer partner-ships and build new ones.”