Ingram Micro on Tuesday offered its VARs a new way to add revenue to their businesses, with managed print services, or MPS.

The addition unveiled at Ingram Micro’s 2012 Cloud Summit in Scottsdale, Ariz. lets Ingram Micro partners handle printer selection, service errors and maintenance for their customers, as well as oversee items such as toner levels and number of prints per device. VARs may choose among three service packs: Plus, Advance and Total. Each includes automated supplies fulfillment, a cost-per-page model and remotely managed hardware-as-a-service with help desk support. The packages are customizable and can include options such as help desk triage and break/fix services.

At the same time, Ingram Micro debuted its MPS Connect professional services, which include assessment, quote and proposal development. The idea is for channel partners to earn new revenue by capturing customers’ MPS opportunities. Plus, the program is vendor-agnostic, said Ryan Grant, Ingram Micro U.S.’s director of document imaging. That approach “appeals to channel partners who are already selling MPS, just getting started or on the fence about developing a MPS practice,” he said. “These offerings are ready-to-sell and require little to no upfront investment, making them truly turnkey services and margin-rich opportunities for our partners.”

The MPS portfolio is available now in the United States and soon will be launched in Canada.

Managed print services are proven to help companies reduce annual output costs by up to 40 percent, while radically increasing workflow efficiencies its a value proposition that businesses cant ignore and a profitable service model channel partners must incorporate into their solution portfolio to maintain relevancy and keep competitors out,” said Tim Ament, vice president and general manager, direct and consumer markets division, Ingram Micro U.S.