The partnership, which sees Ingram supply Google’s Mini, aimed at SMEs, and Google Search Appliance (GSA), aimed at enterprises, to its reseller base, will be rolled out in Germany first, closely followed by other territories.

Anita Lussenburg, senior director for vendor management and international sales at Ingram Micro Europe, said: “The Google relationship was for all global regions, but it was always going to be marketed at different stages for each territory.”

Lussenburg said both the SME and enterprise appliances had sold well in the US, but the emphasis in Europe will be on the Mini appliance.

“Google already had a channel in place in Europe for the high-end GSA appliance, but we will support its future growth,” she said. “The focus in Europe will be on the Mini because of our strong presence in the SME reseller space in that region. The Mini is a horizontal solution and will appeal to any company that needs a search capability.”

Lussenburg said both the SME and enterprise appliances had sold well in the US, but the emphasis in Europe will be on the Mini appliance.

“There is a market for search technology, with firms needing to search Excel spreadsheets and other documents, providing there is no indexer during office hours, which can disable the machine. We will be interested in finding out more,” he said.