Companies Need To Reach Out Across New Channels

As part of a new connection-driven economy, companies need to reach out across new channels that they may not have worked with before, said Ingram Micro's Anaya.

A new study found that more non-IT companies bought IT startups over the past year than IT companies did, and Anaya said this shows the importance of new connections being made across various industries as a way to improve customer experience.

Anaya said she believes women have an advantage in the connection economy because they are "community builders."

"We'll have to think about who we're partnering with," she said, "Are we connecting across channels? What can we do differently to think about these connections? We might actually have to connect with competitors in some cases."