Ingram Micro Staffing Program To Go Live

Dubbed IT Staffing Solutions, the effort has been piloted over the past several months. Services personnel placements will be handled by external IT staffing partners that are part of IMSN and already offer these services in their regular business. These partners also will screen personnel being placed and ensure non-compete provisions.

“Not only do [Ingram Micro] customers get to work with their peers for these opportunities, but we feel strongly that our go-to partners understand IT staffing demands better than national headhunters and can help our [Ingram Micro] customers position and sell this service to end users,” said Jason Beal, group marketing development manager for IMSN, Santa Ana, Calif.

Beal said deals handled under the program could take several shapes. They could involve a traditional opportunity in which two IMSN members are teamed to handle a project, or they could be part of a short-term, deal-specific implementation. But the program also will take care of permanent staff placements, he said.

“If the opportunity is a true staff augmentation deal, then the resources that go on-site are not employees of IMSN solution providers. Rather, they are independent contractors, or they are technicians that are in between jobs,” Beal said.

Ray Morton, director of technical services for Daly Computers, an IMSN council member company in Clarksburg, Md., said the IMSN program could be complementary to his firm’s offerings. “Where I see the most advantage is in skill sets I don’t have,” said Morton, whose company generates $40 million in annual revenue. In particular, Morton said, he would look to the program to supplement high-end services.

Lester Keizer, president of Connecting Point Technology Center in Las Vegas, a VentureTech Network member, said he believes IT Staffing Solutions could help during peak periods when his customers need outsourced personnel.

During the November-to-January period, for example, his staffing needs jumped 70 percent. Las Vegas is a particularly “transient” town, Keizer said, and although he regularly interviews potential candidates one day each week, he would rely on the new offering as needed. “I think a VAR needs to look at this and keep the mind open,” he said.

Ingram Micro’s staffing partners have access to roughly 10,000 techicians nationwide, Beal estimated. The services will be open to all Ingram Micro customers, not just IMSN members, he said.

Regarding fees, VARs will pay a market-competitive, hourly labor rate for short-term projects. If they end up hiring a technician to augment their permanent staff, the solution provider will pay 12 percent of the candidate’s annual salary.

“We have designed this 12 percent pricing in a way that allows VARs to mark it up and make 3 percent to 8 percent of annual salary when reselling these resources to an end user,” Beal said.