Shayna Daly from Polytechnic Consulting joins Ingram Micro's AWS Partner Spotlight to discuss how their strategy-first approach differentiates them in the AWS partner channel — especially when working with federal, state, and local government clients navigating legacy systems and complex procurement cycles. Shayna also shares how Ingram Micro's Accelerated Development Program helped fast-track their AWS practice's growth.Key Takeaways🎯 Strategy before technology — Unlike partners who jump straight to implementation, Polytechnic starts by understanding why a solution is needed before recommending how to build it — ensuring long-term fit, not just a quick deployment.🏛️ Insider knowledge of government constraints — Having worked inside government organizations as employees or consultants, Polytechnic understands the unique procurement cycles, budgets, and legacy technology realities that make government IT modernization anything but one-size-fits-all.🔐 Customized network modernization, not out-of-the-box — Their secure network modernization process — discovery, solution architecture, then customized Palo Alto deployment — is tailored to each environment rather than dropped in as a generic template.🚀 An extension of the team, not just a vendor — Ingram Micro's Accelerated Development Program gave Polytechnic technical expertise, go-to-market guidance, and enablement resources that sped up their AWS practice maturity significantly.Timeline00:00 – Welcome & introductions00:20 – What is Polytechnic Consulting?00:45 – What differentiates Polytechnic from other AWS partners01:43 – What Polytechnic brings to government agencies specifically03:01 – Overview of secure network modernization services03:28 – Their step-by-step process: discovery, architecture, deployment04:29 – How Ingram Micro's Accelerated Development Program helped05:31 – Closing thoughts & thanks

Lisa from Ingram Micro joins this episode of Ingram Micro Insider to break down how the Industry Solutions Organization helps AWS partners break into public sector — from leveraging contract vehicles like OMNIA, NCPA, and GSA, to accessing a dedicated grant writer and underused business intelligence tools. Lisa shares practical advice on where new partners should focus first, how to build credibility fast, and the biggest myths holding partners back from public sector success.Key Takeaways📝 Contracts turn months into days — By having partners operate as the prime under Ingram Micro's existing contracts (OMNIA, NCPA, GSA, and the newly awarded SUPSIC), partners skip the bid/quote process and can close deals in days instead of months.💰 A dedicated grant writer is a hidden weapon — Many school districts and public entities don't even know funding exists; Ingram Micro's in-house grant writer finds, writes, and manages grants end-to-end so partners can focus purely on selling.🎯 Start with state/local & education, not federal — New partners often chase the biggest federal opportunities first, but state and local government and education are actually the easiest, fastest entry points into public sector.🧭 "Don't try to boil the ocean" — The fastest path to credibility and success is going deep on one vertical (e.g., education or healthcare) with real subject matter expertise, rather than spreading thin across every market.Timeline00:00 – Welcome & introduction00:48 – Why Ingram Micro built a public sector cloud practice01:31 – Biggest obstacles partners face selling into public sector02:18 – How contract vehicles accelerate deals04:08 – Busting the "public sector takes forever" myth05:04 – How Ingram Micro's grant writer fills the funding gap06:45 – The most underused tool: business intelligence platforms08:33 – The #1 mistake new public sector partners make09:07 – The fastest way to build credibility10:35 – Final advice: "Don't try to boil the ocean"

Derek Ross from TrueMark joins Ingram Micro's AWS Partner Spotlight to explain why being an AWS-only implementation partner lets his team go deeper than generalist competitors — from smarter VMware modernization and landing zone governance to cost optimization and secure enterprise AI on Amazon Bedrock. Derek shares how TrueMark helps lean IT teams in education and government scale confidently without sacrificing compliance or control over their data.Key Takeaways🎯 AWS-only means real depth — Unlike partners who spread across GCP, Azure, and on-prem, TrueMark's exclusive AWS focus lets former AWS solutions architects go deep on cloud-native services rather than offering generic, shallow expertise.🏛️ Built for lean teams, not big budgets — TrueMark's landing zone and infrastructure-as-code work is specifically designed for two-to-three-person IT teams in education and government managing 100+ workloads — leaving them equipped to self-manage after the engagement.💰 Funded assessments, smarter cost outcomes — TrueMark partners with AWS to help fund migration assessments and implementation, right-sizing each workload (rehost, replatform, or even move to SaaS) rather than defaulting to a blanket "lift and shift."🔒 Enterprise AI without losing control of your data — Using AWS Bedrock and SageMaker, TrueMark helps government and regulated customers access models like Claude, Llama, and DeepSeek while keeping their data fully isolated — addressing the #1 fear legal teams and CIOs have about AI.Timeline00:00 – Welcome & introduction00:21 – "More than a migration partner" — TrueMark's philosophy01:04 – How TrueMark's modernization approach differs from lift-and-shift02:29 – Landing zones, infrastructure as code & governance at scale03:47 – Optimizing cost and performance together04:48 – Moving enterprise AI from experimentation to production05:55 – Choosing the right AI model for the use case06:39 – Closing thoughts