Ingram Micro To Sell Exenet's Software Delivery, Asset Management Services

Exenet Ingram Micro

Exenet decided to launch the new offering based on feedback from solution providers participating in Ingram Micro's eight-month-old xSP pilot program, which ended last month, said Bob Johnson, Exenet's vice president of business development.

Exenet recently completed a beta program for the software delivery and asset management services, which will be added to the company's managed network, security and storage service offerings. Exenet, which was founded in 1997 as a network and systems integration services company, also provides network integration services.

Exenet representatives planned to meet with Ingram Micro executives this week to discuss the new offering, Johnson said. Ingram Micro executives could not be reached for comment.

"The value proposition for the Ingram Micro xSP program is very strong," Johnson said. Margins for professional services are "more than 10 percent," he said.

Software delivery services will be managed from Exenet's 24x7 network operations center in New York to user desktops nationwide. SMB customers often find that building an infrastructure and managing it themselves at the desktop is time-consuming and expensive, Johnson said.

Asset management services would enable companies to control unauthorized software applications on their networks. Exenet's service would keep track of software license quotas and whether customers were overpaying or underpaying for licenses, Johnson said.

Although Ingram Micro's xSP pilot was open to only a select group of solution providers, Exenet looks forward to offering services to the distributor's complete customer base. Both Ingram Micro and Exenet can train solution providers to sell services.

Ingram Micro's other major xSP partners include Data Systems Worldwide, McAfee, NetLedger and OnSystems. The distributor plans to announce additional vendors for the program next month.

Service providers selling software licenses represent the fast-growing segment of Ingram Micro's xSP business, the company said. The distributor would not release sales figures for its xSP offerings, but said the highest frequency of sales were for Oracle small-business financial applications services.