In November 2006, we featured the then-new Ingram Micro Services Division and Ingram Micro Seismic on the cover of the Channel Advisor. Now, nearly a year later, I’m delighted to tell you that Seismic and the Services Division have both grown by leaps and bounds. We've introduced multiple new offerings and opportunities for Ingram Micro's solution providers, including a hosted remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform, an outsourced NOC and help desk solution, professional services automation software, an online backup and restore solution, print monitoring and management services, and much more. And we've watched with pride as our customers have used these resources to evolve their businesses toward a more profitable managed-services model.

In this issue's cover story, "Shift to Managed Services", we look at the early successes of some of these customers:

• Using nearly the entire Seismic portfolio of services, Todd Brown of United States Information Technologies provides IT support to branch offices and small clinics in the healthcare industry.
• Our cover subject, Craig Flint of Computer ER, uses Seismic Hosted RMM in conjunction with the Seismic NOC to deliver a higher level of service via RMM.
• David Prince of Databranch, a managed services provider for several years, hosts Seismic RMM at his company's own locations and enjoys the resources available to him through the Seismic Success Support Portal.

All benefit from the ability to run their services businesses more efficiently behind the scenes, which in turn allows them to spend more time consulting with end users.

In addition to these solution providers' stories, be sure to read our sales and marketing feature, "Home in on Managed Services". In it, Tiffani Bova, a research director with Gartner, shares recent research into SMB business needs that are compatible with a managed-services model. Whether you're just starting out or have an established practice, this information can help you determine which of your customers may be interested in managed services and why.

My team and I are proud of what we've achieved through Ingram Micro Seismic over the past year, and we look forward to continuing to build an offering that reduces barriers to entry and helps our partners succeed with managed services. To learn more, or to find out how you can add Seismic services to your own business, visit www.ingrammicro.com/seismic or call the Services Division at (800) 705-7057.