Ingram Micro Services Portal Shows VARs The Money

The portal, powered by MaintenanceNet, allows VARs to track service contracts and alerts them when contracts are due to expire, making sure that warranties and other service agreements don't fall by the wayside and lapse.

So far, contracts with Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems, IBM and Lenovo can be tracked. Ingram Micro's goal is to have its top 20 service contract vendors in the system.

"This was a response to the recognition in the channel that both vendors and distributors need to get serious about some of the warranty maintenance contracts that have been sold," said Justin Crotty, vice president of services for Ingram Micro's North American Services Division. "We've had about 400 resellers that are actively using the portal, and those are some of the larger service-contract purchasers in our customer base."

Since rolling out the portal, Ingram Micro has seen about a 12 percent registration rate with HP products and double-digit growth in its contract renewal rates. The Santa Ana, Calif.-based distributor also has seen a 38 percent increase in product registration.

The portal addresses the renewal opportunity, helping VARs keep the revenue that might otherwise slip through their fingers, according to Crotty. "Right now, most resellers, even if they have a good warranty/service business, aren't doing a good job at tracking them and capturing the renewals. Those doing well typically have one or two people on staff dedicated to managing and tracking that, which is a high expense for that business," he said.

Vendors are looking at distributors' attach and renewal rates for service and maintenance contracts and are putting pressure on distributors to do a better job, Crotty explained. Otherwise, vendors may move in to renew the contract and take the revenue for themselves, he said.

"I just think that they know there's money being left on the table out there, and they intend to get it however that has to happen," Crotty said.

Shelley Wanserski, inside sales coordinator at Agosto, a Minneapolis-based MSP, said Ingram Micro's Reseller Services Portal has helped her company keep track of its renewal opportunities and build a reputation for being a proactive partner.

"Any smaller company will know that it's really hard to track all your deals. You have lots of outside guys, and you have lots of deals going on from many angles. It's hard enough to keep track of the customers as well as renew stuff," Wanserski said.

Giving the company a reason to call on customers and check in has also helped generate additional business, Wanserski added. "It's planting the seeds in the customer's head. We don't necessarily have to generate dollars, but anything you can do to help a customer see you as a partner rather than as a number in a phone book they call when they have a problem is a good thing," she said.