Ingram Micro Taps LPI Level Platforms For MSP Business

LPI made its name as a low-cost leader in the market for remote monitoring and management (RMM) software. It's flagship Managed Workplace MSP platform will now be the central RMM engine powering Ingram's ambitious new Seismic Platform and Virtual Services Warehouse offering, said Justin Crotty, vice president of services for Ingram's North American Services Division, Santa Ana, Calif.

Ingram officially announced the offering during its VentureTech Network (VTN) Fall Invitational event, which began today in Palm Desert, Calif.

The Ingram Micro Seismic Platform and Virtual Services Warehouse will become "a robust services offering that VARs can provision and deliver to their end-user customers," said Crotty.

Ingram sees its new offering as more than just an exclusive deal with LPI to resell Managed Workplace to its VAR partners as a hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS), said Crotty. To help partners succeed as MSPs, a comprehensive database of MSP best practices will also be part of the new program.

Ingram plans to partner with other vendors over the next few years to add other hosted, resellable managed services such as anti-virus and spam filtering, remote storage backup and recovery, and e-mail messaging management, he said. The expansion of all these services will compliment Ingram's existing field IT services programs such as IMOnsite. Launched in August, IMOnsite is a hosted professional services automation (PSA) offering from Ingram delivered through an exclusive agreement with PSA vendor Autotask, Rensselaer, N.Y. IMOnsite gives solution providers a portal to help them locate and hire IT field service subcontractors from the 750 member-strong Ingram Micro Service Network.

Ingram spent nearly a year before deciding to go with LPI as its RMM tool of choice, said Peter Sandiford, CEO of LPI Level Platforms, Ottawa.

Ingram selected LPI over RMM products from N-able Technologies, Ottawa, and Silverback, Billerica, Mass. The distributor continues to sell the N-able and Silverback products, said Crotty. Ingram also passed over MSP Alvaka Networks in its selection of LPI, said Crotty. Since October 2005, Ingram has had a deal with MSP Alvaka Networks, Huntington Beach, Calif., to resell Alvaka's managed services as its own. But the Alvaka deal may not last much longer, and is currently being reviewed by Ingram, said Crotty. "In light of this new services strategy, we are going to reevaluate that agreement," he said.

A key attraction to LPI was the size of the vendor's install base, which is bigger than that of N-able's or Silverback's, said Crotty. LPI's relatively low prices were not the main reason Ingram tapped LPI as its RMM technology vendor, he said. LPI has given Ingram licensing discounts to enable the distributor to sell the service for about the same price as if a VAR were to buy the product direct from LPI, said Crotty.