Paul Eccleston, SCH’s director, told Sam Trendall as a result, "Google Enterprise is a fantastic addition to our stable of leading IT brands.  Combined with the burgeoning market for enterprise search and related services we believe that this is a significant opportunity for our channel partners to bring the benefits of Google Enterprise Search to millions of knowledge workers in the UK and we are excited to be developing this market with them."

So look for the Google Mini and the Google Search Appliance to start landing in the hands of British value-added resellers. 

What’s more, a brief comment from Peter Lorant, the head of Enterprise Partners at Google EMEA, indicated that the spread may not stop with whatever SCH can accomplish.  "We have selected SCH Distribution as our first UK distribution partner because in ETC, ISI and Interchange it has three strong and respected brands to extend our reach in the channel and open the door to significant enterprise sales."  The emphasis on "first" is ours.

Google’s stockholders should find this encouraging insofar as it signals that Google’s trying to maintain its growth.

 Peter Lorant

Peter Lorant, the head of enterprise partners for Google EMEA, explained to Channel Business Solutions, "Partners are making an increasing contribution to the Google Enterprise business in EMEA and extending our relationship with Ingram Micro increases the scale and reach of our channel network."

The proof is in the stats; when Google and Ingram Micro sealed their deal in 2007, they were talking about having sold 9,000 units.  Now, Lorant continued, "We . . . have over 10,000 search customers globally and having access to Ingram Micro’s large reseller base means we can bring the power of Google search that millions of consumers benefit from to many more businesses across EMEA."

One thing he didn’t discuss is timeframes; it remains unknown how long Ingram Micro can expect to handle Google’s business.  Still, the two companies seem quite happy together, so a sort of open-ended agreement isn’t out of the question.

The prices of the Google Mini and Google Search Appliance should, for the record, remain unchanged.

“[W]e want to reach out even farther,” wrote Rodrigo Vaca, Google Enterprise’s Channel Marketing Manager, on the Official Google Blog.  Yet, after an announcement last week that Dell would become responsible for manufacturing the Google Search Appliance, it kind of seems like Google is having everyone else do the stretching.

Ah, well.  Famous figures ranging from Andrew Carnegie to George Patton have liked the idea of delegation, so I suppose I shouldn’t whine too much.  In fact, this is probably a good move.  Ingram Micro “is the world’s largest global IT distributor and because it has enjoyed success in targeting both medium-size and small businesses as well as local government and education customers,” according to The Channel Insider’s Jessica Davis.

Moreover, the company’s own website proclaims that it was ranked number one in its industry by Fortune magazine.

It’s worth noting that the Google-Ingram Micro relationship isn’t just any old arrangement; in an interview with the relevant marketing manager, Davis discovered, “While not an exclusive deal, Vaca characterized the Ingram Micro agreement as the largest deal of its kind for the Google.”

As for what’s next, Vaca told Davis, “We are not expecting to sign a similar deal in the near future.”

Also, while talking to InformationWeek’s Thomas Claburn, the marketing manager added, “We’re also engaging them in other ways, such as reseller recruitment, reseller marketing, and reseller enablement, to make sure that the channel is ready to sell our products.”

Vaca appears to be a very busy man, doing one blog entry and two interviews among who knows what else, but more importantly, it looks like Ingram Micro has gotten its proverbial foot in Google’s door.  And though I’m not especially familiar with the IT distribution industry, that analogy may work the other way around, as well.

Oh, and in the event that you were worried – this deal should not have any effect on the Google Search Appliance’s bright yellow paint scheme.

Only $1,995 out of the Information Technology budget will enable a business to obtain a 50,000-document version of Google’s hardware search machine. The Google Mini has four configurations available now for installation on the corporate intranet.

The high-end configuration that can index 300,000 documents became available in January 2006. But Google saw a need to address the other side of the business market, as noted by InternetNews:

A single Google Mini can scale from the low-end of 50,000 to the more voluminous 300,000 document capability, simply by paying for an upgraded license. All versions include the first year of support; a second year of support that includes upgrades and hardware replacement would cost $995 according to Google.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.