Ingram to Offer Service Warranties to VARs
The Santa Ana, Calif.-based distributor's services division is offering the plan to reseller customers and MSPs who want to bundle longer and extended warranties with hardware products in partnership with Warranty Corporation of America, a Norcross, Ga.-based vendor of IT services plans.
Ingram Micro thinks it's a win-win for its customers as it offers both on-site customer support and service as well as a three-year extended coverage period.
"There's a dual profit opportunity, or what we call double dipping for the solution providers. They'll sell a contract at the point of sale along with a product sale, and they'll make revenue and profit at the time they sell the product to the customer. If it breaks and they go and perform services, they collect labor reimbursement through WaCA," said Jason Beal, director of sales, Ingram Micro Services.
VARs can choose to service products themselves or tap the WaCA or members of the Ingram Micro Services Network to service products, said Beal.
Ingram has also put together special programs for college campus resellers and white-box system builders. For college resellers Ingram is offering a program that covers accidental damage and handling if, for instance, a student knocks her coffee over into her laptop.
Beal said Ingram's program does not compete with vendor warranty programs, and John Riddle, president of Information Networking Company, Irvine, Calif., agrees.
"This is an extension of what the manufactures offer. I'm very pleased to see a distributor the size of Ingram Micro willing to go out and extend protection plans over and above what the manufactures do that can be used at any time," he said.
"It really gives the solution provider the ability to tailor plans based on his individual customer's requirements. They can roll over as an extension beyond their current manufactories plan, it can be in addition to or it can be instead of. There are customers who don't want to pay for the manufacturer's extension plan, so now this is an alternative for them," he said.
The plan, which Riddle said costs between $50 and $100 per year per piece of hardware, will enable solution providers to better retain and service customers.
"[Ingram Micro has] made it easier for the solution provider to get reorders, because there is already there an excellent services plan in place and we all know how difficult it is to keep the customer happy. So if you already have an excellent system established $50 to $100 per year per device, this is the biggest no-brainer in the history of IT service," he said.