OVHcloud expands US footprint with channel partner program
U.S.-based channel partners now have a new infrastructure-as-a-service option with the launch of the OVHcloud partner program; other news from the week.
Europe's largest cloud provider has stepped up its channel presence in the U.S. with a new partner program.
OVHcloud, which has its global headquarters in Roubaix, France, broke into the U.S. market only recently, following its acquisition of VMware's vCloud Air business. With its U.S.-based partner program, launched this week, OVHcloud hopes to expand the reach of its IaaS portfolio, spanning VMware-based hosted private cloud, bare-metal server and public cloud options.
David Wigglesworth
"I think we are the best-kept technical secret nobody has heard of," said David Wigglesworth, chief revenue officer at OVHcloud, which has its U.S. corporate headquarters in Reston, Va.
The OVHcloud channel program features four partner tiers with incremental benefits and requirements. Partners will have access to training; marketing support, such as market development funds; and sales activity planning, the company said.
OVHcloud has already signed a handful of U.S.-based partners, including solution provider FusionStorm. Wigglesworth noted that OVHcloud's offerings will also be sold by VMware sales reps.
HPE updates Partner Ready program
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) this week unveiled enhancements to the Partner Ready program, which now features increased rewards for resellers.
According to HPE, resellers can now earn increased rebates and other incentives for selling products in "high-growth markets," specifically storage, composable infrastructure, hyper-converged technology, software and consumption services. The Partner Ready program enhancements will take effect on Nov. 1, HPE said.
"Because of the changes that we have made, resellers and other partner business types ought to look at this as an opportunity to redouble their focus and efforts around HPE because it will prove to be very rewarding," said Terry Richardson, vice president of North American channels and alliances at HPE.
HPE's products that align with the market opportunities it is targeting include HPE Nimble Storage and 3PAR for storage, SimpliVity and Synergy for composable and hyper-converged technology, and GreenLake and Datacenter Care for service-led offerings.
HPE said it will also enhance the Partner Ready program with the following features:
- Further simplifications. For example, partners will now receive rewards from the first sale without gates, caps or targets, HPE said.
- A push to increase HPE's consumption-based offerings. HPE said it will roll out a new competency for the HPE GreenLake suite of pay-per-use on-premises offerings, in addition to a rebate for partners enabled in consumption-based models.
- Expanded technical enablement, especially around HPE's high-growth market opportunities.
RapidFire Tools expands MSP offerings
RapidFire Tools Inc., based in Atlanta, is expanding its managed services provider (MSP) offerings with InDoc, a tool that provides web-based access to clients' network data.
InDoc, an Amazon cloud-based portal, is built into RapidFire Tools' Network Detective Reporter product for scheduling automated network scans and reports. MSP technicians can use InDoc to obtain network data via desktop or mobile devices and can also store information on the portal, such as client-specific notes, remediation procedures, checklists and passwords. Information is stored in an encrypted data store. InDoc employs additional layers of encryption for confidential data and passwords. The tool includes a usage log that provides an audit trail of technicians who have accessed data and when they did so, according to RapidFire Tools.
Michael Mittel, CEO at RapidFire Tools, said more than 95% of the company's business is to MSPs, noting service providers "are still a growing part of our business."
He said RapidFire Tools now has more than 6,000 MSPs using its tools worldwide. He added the company is expanding its offerings to include products that MSPs can resell to their customers.
InDoc will be offered to existing Network Detective Reporter customers as a free upgrade. New subscribers to Network Detective Reporter will receive InDoc as a value-added feature at no extra charge. An unlimited amount of data can be stored via InDoc for each MSP location subscribing to Network Detective Reporter. The company said MSPs with multiple locations should purchase separate Network Detective Reporter subscriptions for each office.
Kaseya reports 30% growth, MSP signings
Kaseya cited MSP growth as it reported year-over-year growth in excess of 30% and projected annual bookings of more than $250 million.
The IT infrastructure management solutions provider said uptake of the latest version of its remote monitoring and management product, VSA, has exceeded the company's expectations. In the first several months since its release, more than 300 organizations have adopted the technology, according to Kaseya. In addition, the company said about 400 MSPs have signed up for Unitrends MSP thus far in 2018. Kaseya acquired Unitrends, a business continuity and disaster recovery (DR) technology vendor, in May.
Other news
- Sungard Availability Services, a DR and cloud service provider in Wayne, Pa., has expanded its Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard certification, offering compliant production and DR services on AWS and its managed private cloud.
- AWS introduced a new program for channel partners in the public sector to grow their cloud businesses within a 110-day time frame. The AWS Public Sector Partner Transformation Program offers a cloud-readiness assessment, training and enablement resources.
- HCL Technologies, a global technology company that provides infrastructure services, is partnering with ScienceLogic's IT operations management technology. The partnership addresses the need for automated IT operations among HCL's enterprise clients embarking on digital transformation projects, according to ScienceLogic. The arrangement also lets HCL's DRYiCE division use ScienceLogic's SL1 Automation Engine.
- Cloud communications provider Avoxi unwrapped a global partner program. Through the program, partners can provide Avoxi's virtual numbers in more than 120 countries for packaged minutes. Avoxi said it will soon roll out a new partner portal featuring partner sales and management tools and materials.
- Calligo, a cloud infrastructure services provider based in St. Helier, Jersey, is offering Microsoft Azure Stack services from its Toronto branch. The company said the Toronto installation is its fifth Azure Stack deployment.
- PSIGEN Software Inc., a document capture, business process automation and document management solutions developer, has inked a distribution pact with Access Control Devices Inc. (ACDI). PSIGEN Software, based in Madison, Ala., said ACDI will serve as its exclusive distributor in North America and Latin America. ACDI, a PaperCut Authorized Solution Center, targets the office equipment reseller channel.
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