Ingram Micro Showcase 2017 As it Happens: New lifecycle services coming soon

Ingram Micro New Zealand is gearing up to launch two new lifecycle services as the distributor ups its efforts to keep customers engaged throughout the entire product lifecycle.

While the company is keeping full details of the new services under-wraps for now, ChannelLife NZ can reveal that the distributor will be offering a new managed services option, and an insurance service.

The insurance offering will be focused primarily on phones, tablets and laptops initially and is expected to launch within three months.

That will be followed by an offering which will enable resellers to sell equipment on a subscription basis, enabling companies to take technology investments away from capital expenses.

The new offering will enable customers to consume at a per seat, per user basis.

The two offerings will form part of Ingram Micro NZ's Lifecycle Services division, which offers a range of services from configuration services to technology recovery service.

Amit Jamnadas, Ingram Micro New Zealand Lifecycle Services business solutions manager, says "Traditionally, lifecycle services was around the forward reverse logisitics, any sort of regeneration and remarketing or recycling suite of services, but increasingly our vendors and resellers are saying 'what about configuration?," Jamnadas says.

Ingram Micro provides pre-configuration work including imaging, user settings and IP address settings, and Jamnadas says preconfiguration is a growth area for the distributor.

"What we're taking away from the resellers is the manual setup. Their team's can focus on the more profitable side of their business which could be in consulting and integration and things like that.

Data wiping is also a growth area for the distributor, which offers a service which triple wipes devices. The wiping software being used has been used by the likes of the GCSB, Nato, the Pentagon and the Australian Army, Jamnadas says, with Ingram Micro NZ offering a certificate to verify that assets have been securely wiped.

The distributor also offers certification that it is appropriately – and ethically – recycling products as part of its technology recovery services.

"From a corporate social responsibilty perspective increasing numbers of companies want assurance that it has been recycled ethically and within the laws of the local region," Jamnadas says.

"We're quite passionate about privacy and the environment. Ingram is the biggest distributor of technology in the country and it's important we are seen as leading the way when it comes to e-waste and managing that.