Ingram Micro Adds to MSP Platform

Seismic Online Backup and Restore, powered by VaultLogix, gives Seismic partners the option of offering data storage and retrieval for PCs, laptops, file servers, and application programs and databases.

Seismic Print Monitoring and Management, powered by Print Audit, lets partners offer a printing-as-a-service offering, along with the benefits that such a service offers including sales of consumables.

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"It's hard to make money on printer hardware sales," said Justin Crotty, vice president of Ingram Micro's services division in North America. "But a lot of VARs want to get into a managed print offering and give customers a price per page. It's a little more difficult for VARs to do."

But once the groundwork is laid, the results can certainly be lucrative, Crotty said. Not only can VARs make money from the long-term contract around printer fleet management, but they can also tie in the consumables and supply business, he said.

Ingram Micro also added an online remote backup and recovery service.

"This type of service is in high demand now," Crotty said. "This lets VARs offer this kind of service in a very cost effective way because they don't need to invest in infrastructure."

And while Crotty believes Ingram Micro has added the most crucial components to its Seismic managed services platform for now, the company is exploring others, too. The list of potential new applications includes managed e-mail offering such as Microsoft Exchange and managed security offerings.

The Santa Ana, Calif., distributor also said that it has added a partner forum to its Seismic partner portal. Billed as an education and networking forum, Ingram Micro said the new site feature enables solution providers to exchange ideas, share best practice and ask questions.

Ingram Micro launched the Seismic managed services platform in October. Smaller distribution rival Tech Data launched its own managed services platform initiative in May.