|
VAR Dynamics (Private) |
|
|
October 15, 2012 Issue |
||
|
The Most Powerful Name In Corporate News and Information |
||
|
With a “Cloud Services In-A-Box” Private Label Program, VAR Dynamics is Providing an array of Pre-Built, Customizable Sales and Marketing Tools to Quickly and Easily Launch New Cloud Services Critical for the Future of Enterprises |
||
|
www.vardynamics.com |
|
|
|
Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine, Published – October 15, 2012
Mr. Francisco: The original vision of VAR Dynamics was actually supplied to us by the IT service provider market, which is why we are so focused on their needs. We started as a retail shop selling hosted services directly to end customers. Then as the cloud market began to arise several years ago, IP service providers found us and asked us to be the provider that they could then resell under their particular brand. I saw the opportunity and decided to transform the company into a channel only operation that enabled partners to build a cloud service as a business and the MSP under their brand.
CEOCFO: What separates you from the competition? Mr. Francisco: I would break that down into three categories, mostly around the business model verses the technology portion. First, our private label program is like a “cloud services in-a-box” program for partners, giving them an array of pre-built, customizable sales and marketing tools to quickly and easily launch new cloud services. That is everything from the private label control panel, to the private label support website, to web marketing pages for each service, SLAs, Proposal generators and more. The second thing is the actual technology platform which we built from the ground up for partners, leveraging an Open API and a multi-tenant architecture to facilitate partner customization of services and seamless additions of new services. The third thing is that we are very MSP friendly. We do not dictate how MSPs resell or package the services, what business model they use to market the services, etc. And there are no upfront fees, minimum terms or other hurdles that give MSPs pause to enter a new partnership.
CEOCFO: Who is your typical customer? Mr. Francisco: Our partners are our customers, and they in turn deliver our services to their end user customers. Our typical partners fit into a broad range of IT Service Providers including MSPs, VARS, Telcos, ISVs, IT Consultancies and more. In most cases, our partners are looking for a way to be able to quickly enter the exploding Cloud services market by branding our popular hosted business apps and marketing them to customers as their own. Those hosted apps include Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft SharePoint, email security and compliance solutions, and more.
CEOCFO: Your website, vardynamics.com indicates you are the most partner-friendly hosted services provider. What are the key points? Mr. Francisco: The key point is prominent on the website. For IT service providers wanting to “get into the cloud”, VAR Dynamics has already done the “heavy lifting” for you. Because most of us on the team have channeled management experience we have been able to architect the tools and technology platform around the real needs of the IT Channel. So instead of partners facing the challenge of developing on their own the sales and marketing documents for these new services, new website pages, a support site, etc., we’ve already done the lion’s share of that work for you. It’s sort of like giving partners a cloud services business “in-a-box”.
CEOCFO: What can you do for your customers that they cannot get somewhere else or not get as quickly? Mr. Francisco: I think the key differentiator is the speed at which VAR Dynamics’ partners can bring completely new cloud services to market. The technology platform itself can be very complicated for an IT service provider to develop by themselves. And the fact that our platform uses an open API allows our partners to develop their own custom extensions to apps like Dynamics CRM, SharePoint, etc. to add value to the basic service for vertical markets. An open API is not necessarily commonly available from hosted service providers like VAR Dynamics. And finally, we are innovative in how we package hosted services. For example, we were first, and I believe still the only hosted Microsoft Exchange vendor to also offer hosted Zimbra on the same platform. That is one particular technology differentiator that allows us to service customers that love Microsoft Exchange and also those that do not have much love for Microsoft Exchange. Outside of that, how we have repackaged the partner tools allows a partner to instantly private label our entire knowledge base to support these new services they are providing for their customers. All these tools are free, nearly instantaneous to launch and completely customizable.
CEOCFO: What is your revenue model? Mr. Francisco: It is the Holy Grail for what most service providers are seeking today, a recurring revenue stream. We charge a partner a monthly wholesale cost on the services rendered. They in turn are able to mark that up and charge what the market bears based on their customers’ needs and industry.
CEOCFO: Is cost a factor when people are using your service or is quality and ease of use more important? Mr. Francisco: We see both sides of this argument and believe we have created such an aggressive pricing structure that we have straddled the line between being very cost-effective while also delivering one of the most reliable uptimes in the industry. Pricing is important, but the competitive advantage for us is quality of service and, again, ease of use for partners seeking to deliver new cloud services.
CEOCFO: Are most of the people that should know about you aware or do they need to be educated? Mr. Francisco: There is still an education process needed for those who are not yet deeply familiar with the Cloud. However, many of our partners were referred to us from other partners who are successfully using our services. We are now beginning to invest more heavily in marketing to attract new partners in niche industries.
Mr. Francisco: The MSP World Cup Award was a very surprising and gratifying award for us to win this year at MSPWorld 2012 because it was only the second time we had attended the event, and did not have widespread brand recognition within that target audience. Attendees voted our technology platform and business model as the best enabling technology for MSPs of all those vendors present at the event. Many attendees told us that they we learning about us for the first time, and wondered where we have been this entire time! They were amazed that new partners could deploy our services into their business model within an hour of signing up.
CEOCFO: How do you stay on top of potential changes in the industry? How do you know what is going to stick and what is not? Mr. Francisco: Because we have been in the industry so long we understand how services are going to be consumed and appreciated. Like most companies, we stay on top of research reports from analyst firms, but more so we solicit feedback from our partners on a regular basis to get a feel for what their customers want, because in the end, what they want drives the market. Finally, some services may have a deep penetration initially; we have to weigh that against the deployment and management of that tool. These are all factors that we put together when deploying new services. How will it be implemented, received and managed, and how long is the lifecycle.
CEOCFO: How is business these days? Mr. Francisco: Business is excellent!
CEOCFO: Why should investors pay attention to VAR Dynamics?
Mr. Francisco:
IT managers have known in their traditional role at companies over the last
several years that cloud services are going to be a critical part of their
job in the future. Consequently, VAR Dynamics is positioned at the center of
that table where VARS may come to pull their cloud services from. |
||
|
First, our private label program is like a “cloud services in-a-box” program for partners, giving them an array of pre-built, customizable sales and marketing tools to quickly and easily launch new cloud services. - Tony Francisco |
||
|
|
||
|
Software-as-a-Service, SaaS, VAR Dynamics (Private), CEO Interviews, Cloud Services In-A-Box, Pre-Built, Customizable Sales and Marketing Tools to Quickly and Easily Launch New Cloud Services, Recent CEO Interviews, Software Companies, Software Stock, Technology Stocks, Software-as-a-Service Stock, Software-as-a-Service Companies, private-label Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Cloud business apps, enabling VARs, MSPs, ISVs, Systems Integrators to market a full suite of value-added SaaS to their customers with speed and agility to capture recurring high-margin revenue streams, VAR Dynamics Headline, News, Companies looking for venture capital, Angel Investors, private companies looking for investors, Software-as-a-Service companies seeking investors, SaaS companies needing investment capital |
||
Tony Francisco