Quest targets managed services market with new partner offering
Quest Software introduced a partner program with benefits and support geared toward the managed services business model; other channel news from the week.
Quest Software launched an MSP arm of its Partner Circle program as it looks to gain share in the managed services market.
The new Quest MSP program offers tiered benefits and support for MSPs in the data protection and recovery space. Quest currently has about 400 active MSP partners in North America and is looking to grow MSP revenue upward of 30% in 2019, according to the company.
While Quest has targeted the managed services market for a number of years, the company hadn't established a formal program until now, said John O'Boyle, director of marketing and channels of Quest's data protection business, in an interview.
O'Boyle cited the exponential growth of customer data as a major area that Quest's MSP partners can capitalize on. "Data growth, controlling data growth and managing data growth is [a] big opportunity that we see for MSPs," he said.
Quest tailored the program to the managed services business model in a number of ways, such as by offering options for subscription-based licensing and a pay-as-you-grow model, O'Boyle noted. Under the program, Quest will also provide several products that MSPs can use both internally and to develop services around for their customers.
John O'Boyle
For backup and recovery products, Quest MSPs can tap Rapid Recovery and NetVault Backup software, O'Boyle said. MSPs can also craft offerings around Qorestor data deduplication and replication software and Foglight for Virtualization, a virtualization monitoring and management tool, he said.
He added that Quest differentiates itself from other data protection vendors in the managed services market by tightly integrating its products. The product integrations, he said, let MSPs create services that go beyond traditional backup and recovery.
"The way we have integrated these products together enables ... our partners to provide ... holistic data management," he said.
Konica Minolta updates partner strategy
Konica Minolta Business Solutions recently revealed a shift in its channel strategy at its 2019 U.S. dealer conference.
In the year ahead, Konica Minolta will focus on enabling its dealer partners to offer managed IT, voice and print services, said Dino Pagliarello, vice president of product management and planning. He said the company will also look for partners to provide its Workplace Hub offering for small and medium-sized businesses. Workplace Hub combines a multifunctional printer, data storage, cybersecurity, an HP Enterprise server and Wi-Fi access points into a single offering.
"A big part of the push this year is finding the dealers that are ready for the Workplace Hub. It's the early adopters of that strategy, that subset of dealers that are ready to take this forward," Pagliarello said in an email.
Pagliarello noted that Konica Minolta can help its partner dealers update their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to handle recurring software billing and invoicing, as well as software and service bundles. In 2018, the company gained ERP capabilities through its acquisition of MWA Intelligence, an ERP platform provider in the office equipment space. MWA joined Konica Minolta's IT services division, All Covered.
Partners can expect Konica Minolta to introduce several partner resources this year, Pagliarello added. Resources will include All Covered engagement support, as well as marketing, brand development and sales training.
Asked to point to top market opportunities for partners, Pagliarello cited the digital office and industrial print spaces. Those market segments, he said, are "new and exciting areas of expansion for [dealers] today and focuses for Konica Minolta."
Other news
- HYCU Inc., a data backup, recovery and monitoring software company in Boston, has inked a distribution pact with Arrow Electronics. The deal will let Arrow's enterprise computing solutions business distribute HYCU Data Protection for Nutanix backup and recovery software to channel companies in Western Europe. HYCU in October 2018 launched a channel program to reward partners that sell the company's software for Nutanix environments.
- In other Arrow news, the company has launched ArrowPlus powered by Freelancer.com, a marketplace that lets companies access electronic and electrical engineers.
- IT Glue, an IT documentation vendor acquired by IT management vendor Kaseya, released new professional services automation (PSA) integrations. IT Glue said its users can now use ticketing functions within ConnectWise and Autotask's PSA platforms.
- Security vendor Barracuda Networks reported it has expanded its presence in the managed services market. The vendor said its MSP customer base grew by about 280% in the previous two years. Additionally, the number of MSPs using multiple Barracuda products has increased 34% year over year as of February 2019, the vendor said. Barracuda last month purchased Avast's Managed Workspace remote monitoring and management software, further building out its MSP software portfolio.
- EfficientIP, a network security and automation vendor based in West Chester, Pa., bolstered its Smart Partner Program and named a new channel chief. The program now offers a streamlined onboarding process and upgraded support, the vendor said. EfficientIP's regional strategy in North America will be overseen by John Ricciardi, who was appointed the vendor's new channel development director this week. Prior to EfficientIP, Ricciardi served in business development and global partner management roles at Nokia.
- Managed services automation company BitTitan updated its cloud-based MigrationWiz tool with new coexistence features for Office 365 tenant migrations. BitTitan's coexistence features are included for free in its User Migration Bundle, the company said.
- Cloud infrastructure provider DigitalOcean last week unveiled an online marketplace for developers to buy partner-built products. DigitalOcean Marketplace will offer partners' services, components and tools for modern application development, the company said.
- Skuid, an application development platform provider, has partnered with Carahsoft Technology Corp. Under the partnership, Carahsoft will offer Skuid products in the public sector through its various government contracts, according to Skuid.
- Data platform vendor MapR Technologies added T-Systems to its roster of global solutions partners. T-Systems is a digital services provider headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany.
- Logicalis, an IT solutions and managed services provider, has promoted Mike Houghton to president of Logicalis U.S., which is based in New York.
- Vectra, a network cyberattack detection and response company in San Jose, Calif., appointed Didi Dayton as vice president of worldwide channels and alliances.
Market Share is a news roundup published every Friday.
