Ingram Micro To Offer New professional Services: OfficePac

The OfficePac program also includes implementation and other professional services ranging from a $59 warranty for three years of on-site printer support up to customized implementation contracts for any number of systems, said Jason Beal, group manager of Ingram Micro Service Network.

Ingram Micro previously offered SKU&'d extended warranties through IMSN members, but there was a separate contract for each product. OfficePac allows solution providers to put all of an end user&'s IT equipment under a single contract and offer 24x7 services, Beal said.

“We may have a few solution providers that have a couple hundred servers at different locations ... some that were installed six months ago, [some] two years ago. It&'s impossible to get a post-warranty contract at an economical rate [from a manufacturer],” Beal said.

Steve Harper, president of Network Management Group, Hutchinson, Kan., said OfficePac could benefit small solution providers in tertiary markets. “We&'re not in an NFL city, but we have a lot of big companies with branch offices here. I&'m not sure I would be a big deal originator, but I could be a deliverer. It would give us more billable time,” Harper said.

In addition to break/fix, there are pre- and post-sales services, network assessments and more, Beal said.

“If you&'re installing a couple of workstations, it&'s pretty cookie cutter,” Beal said. “But if you&'re changing a phone environment to VoIP, [OfficePac] can help you find someone to rip out cables and do more project management.”

OfficePac complements Ingram Micro&'s IT StaffAug Services program, slated to launch next month, in which solution providers can hire IT technicians to help with a specific project, he said.

OfficePac is available to any Ingram Micro solution provider, and the distributor believes the brand equity it has built with IMSN over the past decade will alleviate any concerns solution providers may have about utilizing a third party.

“We feel strongly about our capabilities in primary, secondary and tertiary markets,” Beal said.