Unofficial chatter suggests distribution giant Ingram Micro may have acquired Harmony PSA -- a professional services automation (PSA) software company in London.
The Ingram Micro-Harmony PSA buyout rumor first surfaced from ChannelE2E in June 2020 (see item 1A here). Then our grapevine went silent. Fast forward to present day, and a new set of sources has whispered into our ear.
Our latest sources pointed us to this website -- which suggests Ingram Micro CloudBlue President Nimesh Dave and Ingram Micro Cloud VP Darish Rajanayagam have been Harmony PSA officers since May 2020. That same website says Harmony PSA founder Stephen Duckworth resigned his officer position around the same time...
ChannelE2E has reached out to Ingram for comment, and will update this story if/when we receive a reply.
Distribution, PSA and Cloud Marketplaces for MSPs
The line between cloud distributors and PSA (professional services automation) software providers has been blurring for several years. Examples include:
- ConnectWise Marketplace has been evolving toward more of a Salesforce AppExchange model that competes in some ways against Pax8 -- a pure cloud distribution company that's in fast-growth mode with MSP partners. ConnectWise also is well-known for its MSP-focused PSA and RMM (remote monitoring and management) software, both of which have major followings.
- Datto recently acquired Gluh, a startup SaaS company that empowers MSPs with sales quoting, procurement and marketplace-type capabilities. Gluh integrates with multiple MSP management tool providers (Datto Autotask PSA and ConnectWise Manage), and such distribution suppliers as Arrow ECS, D&H, Ingram Micro, Jenne, ScanSource, Synnex, and Tech Data, among others. Still, Datto CEO Tim Weller says his company is not trying to disrupt other marketplaces.
- Cloud solutions provider Sherweb recently acquired C2 Enterprise, an IT service management (ITSM) software platform and service orchestration system.
Ingram Micro and Harmony PSA: Potential Synergies?
So what's next? If Ingram owns Harmony PSA, it may allow the distributor to build closer links between Ingram's back-end cloud distribution systems and partners' day-to-day business management systems.
Taken one-step further, Harmony PSA also supports co-managed service desks that extend into end-customer systems. And that opens up a range of potential MSP and Ingram possibilities. Hypothetically speaking, of course.
