Ingram Micro Gives VARs Shortcut to Virtualization

VARs looking to add virtualization to what they offer but hesitate because of the learning curve involved now have a new option from distribution giant Ingram Micro.

The company announced March 3 at its Ingram Micro’s Seismic Virtual Services Warehouse event in New Orleans that it would offer a lineup of virtualization assessment and delivery services, available through the Ingram Micro Services Network, an organization of specialist consultants. 

At the same time, Ingram Micro announced the addition of new functionality to its Seismic managed services platform.

The virtualization service is available now as a white-label offering to VARs in the United States and Canada, allowing them to retain full customer ownership. The services cover technologies from several vendors in the virtualization space including Citrix, EMC, HP, IBM and VMware.

"It gives VARs a geographic breadth and competency depth they wouldn't be able to provide on their own," said Justin Crotty, vice president of services for Ingram Micro North America.

Crotty said that Ingram Micro's current network of virtualization experts covers all of the major North American markets and most of the secondary markets.

"Virtualization is a huge growth market right now," he said. "A lot of VARs want to offer virtualization, but they have to ask 'is it core to my business?'" 

The new offering from Ingram Micro allows them to offer virtualization without becoming experts in the technology.

Ingram Micro also announced three functionality additions to its Seismic managed services platform offering.

Seismic Remote Support, powered by LogMeIn, lets solution providers and MSPs to deliver on-demand support to remote PCs. Seismic Threat Manager, powered by Alert Logic, combines intrusion protection and vulnerability management technology into a single integrated software-as-a-service offering. Seismic Log Manager, also powered by Alert Logic, provides another SAAS offering to help solution providers manage log data to help with compliance with government regulations.