Helping partners grow their businesses, Ingram Micro (NYSE: IM) today announced an affordable and proven new lineup of virtualization assessment and delivery services powered by the Ingram Micro Services Network (IMSN) and supported by Ingram Micro's Infrastructure Technology Solutions (ITS) Division.

Available now to solution providers in the U.S. and Canada, Ingram Micro's new Virtualization Services instantly expand and enhance a partner's IT portfolio and services capabilities to include virtualization solutions and technology assessments. The new IT labor and professional service offerings are offered as a core area of expertise within the IMSN and account for many of the leading virtualization vendors supported within Ingram Micro's growing ITS Division including Citrix, EMC, HP, IBM and VM Ware.

"Recent IDC research indicates that by 2011 more than 20 percent of all new servers will be virtualized, representing a market opportunity of almost $22 billion annually for server hardware suppliers alone. The rapid adoption we're seeing in the market is primarily driven by cost savings through consolidation, yet an increasing number of customers are looking at new drivers such as high availability, disaster recovery and client virtualization to justify their ongoing virtualization investments," says Michelle Bailey, Research Vice President, Enterprise Platforms and Datacenter Trends, IDC.

"Virtualization holds tremendous sales and services opportunity for the IT channel, but there's a number of solution providers out there who just don't have the resources, budget or technology expertise to make it happen," says Justin Crotty, vice president, Ingram Micro Services Division, North America. "With Ingram Micro's new Virtualization Services, we've turned this complex, in-demand technology into a tangible sale and service opportunity for solution providers throughout North America."

By leveraging the expertise of the IMSN and the ITS Division, Ingram Micro's new Virtualization Services enable partners to successfully sell and support virtualization solutions and technology assessments without the headache and investment of hiring new staff or undergoing costly training and certifications. "The goal here is for these new Virtualization Services to become a growth catalyst not only for our solution providers, but also for our vendors who are heavily invested in these technologies and supported by our ITS Division," concludes Crotty.

As with all IMSN professional, consultative and onsite IT labor services, Ingram Micro's new Virtualization Services will be delivered at a pre-negotiated rate by qualified IMSN members who continue to set the industry standard for service excellence.

For more information solution providers can contact the Ingram Micro Services Network at (800) 235-4128 or send an e-mail to . For more information about Ingram Micro's ITS Division solution providers and IT manufacturers can contact their Ingram Micro sales representative or call the ITS Division directly at (866) 604-6487.

About Ingram Micro

As a vital link in the technology value chain, Ingram Micro creates sales and profitability opportunities for vendors and resellers through unique marketing programs, outsourced logistics services, technical support, financial services, and product aggregation and distribution. The company serves 150 countries and is the only broad-based global IT distributor with operations in Asia. Visit .