I started selling cloud services 7 years ago; I was a reseller of Carbonite<\/a> a few months after they opened their doors and haven\u2019t looked back. It\u2019s easy to be afraid of cloud services, watching how they encroach on what used to be our exclusive domain, but really it\u2019s the natural evolution of technology and we need to figure out how to leverage it to our advantage. The great thing about cloud services is they\u2019re like any other IT product, diverse and ever changing. That still leave the IT Pro in the position of trusted expert to recommend products based on client needs. <\/p>\n
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<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/span> I\u2019m not going to shill for a bunch of different products, I still recommend Carbonite<\/a>, and get my cut when I do, but I also use SymForm<\/a>, Backblaze<\/a>, Keepvault<\/a>, Vembu<\/a>, Acronis<\/a> and others. Each caters to specific needs, so all we need to do is identify their strengths, figure out what the customer needs, and make the sale. <\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at what might be important to a given user based on their usage profile:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When evaluating services, it\u2019s important to pay attention to what they offer based on the chart above. Offerings are always changing, and much like anti-virus vendors, what may be great this year may be really bad the next. Carbonite was a really great provider, but they throttle daily backup amounts, Backblaze doesn\u2019t. Symform recently started selling direct to consumer and included 200gb of free backup, changing their initial partner strategy and KeepVault has lagged in its pricing, moving from very competitive to very expensive. <\/p>\n Ok, so now you\u2019ve determined your clients need, your vendor\u2019s strengths and you need to figure out how to make some money with this information. Most providers offer partner programs that allow you to either take a cut of the sale through referral commission, or offer wholesale prices if you\u2019ll handle billing and support. I like to do the latter, as my clients generally don\u2019t care who the vendor is, just that product works and that they don\u2019t have to deal with many invoices or helpdesks for their technology products. <\/p>\n I typically bill above retail, because of this added support, thereby extending my profit margins and taking responsibility for the product myself. With cloud backup, this is pretty easy to do because the servers are very much set-it-and-forget-it products that require little effort to maintain. <\/p>\n There are really only three ways to sell cloud backup; by using passive links on your websites and promotional products, as direct recommendations to clients on-site, and as part of your MSP (Managed Service Provider) packages. For the most part, the revenue from the first two is minor, maybe $10-15 a year per seat depending on the client and package, but as part of a MSP package, they\u2019ve been invaluable to me in two ways. <\/p>\n The first is by including off-site backup in my packages by default I\u2019ve created have a competitive advantage as I\u2019m not aware of any local competitors who do this. The costs of the service are built into the package, but to the client it looks like a freebie, one that they may never thought of or heard about before. Some might be have been confused by the amount of vendors in the field, or by pricing schemes and previously been scared off, but when I bring it up they greatly appreciate it. <\/p>\n They\u2019re hearing about the cloud in the media but they don\u2019t understand it. This gives us credibility in the sales process thanks to Microsoft\u2019s advertising, and we get to direct the content of the conversation. Cloud backup has allowed me to close more MSP contracts since I started bundling them by default because my clients see that I\u2019m looking out for their interests and starting disaster planning from the get go. <\/p>\n Second, because of the success in boosting MSP contract sales, I\u2019ve created residential MSP contracts for pre-qualified clients. These residential contracts sell easily with cloud backup as I\u2019m able to talk to the prospect about total security and protection. I\u2019ve cemented myself as their only vendor because their AV, cloud backup, remote access and support services are now channelled through my one single invoice. Not only does this allow me to completely own the client, but I can take that client portfolio with me to a vendor and negotiate better pricing. <\/p>\n No matter how you decide to integrate cloud backup into your offerings, whereby as a single sale add-on or as an integral part of your service packages, I highly recommend you do. You\u2019d be putting yourself and your clients at a severe disadvantage if you don\u2019t. I\u2019ve seen a 15% boost in sales, greater stickiness and stronger relationships. I\u2019m offering more comprehensive services and eliminating the feeling of being nickel in dimed clients often resent when dealing with multiple vendors in regards to their IT infrastructure.<\/p>\n And a final thought, the pitch for cloud backup is simple: \u201cWith cloud backup your data is encrypted and stored offsite within minutes, protecting you from accidental deletion, theft, seizure or god forbid a fire, local backup isn\u2019t enough. You can always buy a new computer, but you can\u2019t buy back your data, ready to sign?\u201d<\/p>\n Note: substitute data with pictures if it\u2019s a residential client.<\/p>\n Guest Post By William Conner: William Conner is the owner of MyComputerHero, an IT consultancy in Calgary, Alberta since 2005. He has been in the SMB IT industry for 15 years, holds various vendor and industry certifications and is finishing a BSc. in Computer Information Systems at Mount Royal University.<\/strong><\/p>\n © Technibble – A Resource for Computer Technicians<\/a> to start or improve their Computer Business<\/a>
When talking about backup, let\u2019s keep in mind the 3-2-1 Rule of Backups. Keep three copies, the primary data and two backups, store the backups on two different media, cloud, magnetic, optical, etc., and keep one copy offsite. Cloud services allow for offsite backup beautifully. The 321 strategy gives us many options for disaster recovery in the event of fire, theft or seizure. A typical deployment for us is to back up to a low cost NAS like the D-Link DNS-320 and have a mirror of that backup in the cloud via BackBlaze<\/a> or SymForm<\/a> which works quite well. <\/p>\n\n
\n Typical Demands<\/strong><\/td>\n Home – Light Data<\/strong><\/td>\n SOHO \u2013 Medium Data<\/strong><\/td>\n Small Business \u2013 Larger Data<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Configuration<\/strong><\/td>\n Zero Configuration<\/td>\n Little configuration needed<\/td>\n Handled by IT contractor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Storage Space<\/strong><\/td>\n 100 GB or less<\/td>\n 100-1000GB<\/td>\n 500GB+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Backup Speed<\/strong><\/td>\n Quick, but not a huge concern<\/td>\n Within a few hours<\/td>\n As quickly as possible<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Recovery Speed<\/strong><\/td>\n Can tolerate a multi-day redownload<\/td>\n Needs unthrottled ASAP recovery options <\/td>\n Unthrottled recovery and overnight delivery of storage media.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Remote access<\/strong><\/td>\n Handy access via smartphone or tablet<\/td>\n Smartphone\/Tablet or Web interface access to data.<\/td>\n Generally only needs web access to datasets.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Encryption<\/strong><\/td>\n Strong Encryption – Provider managed keyset<\/td>\n Strong encryption, controllable keyset<\/td>\n Strong encryption, controllable keyset<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Partner Support<\/strong><\/td>\n Can rely on vendor techsupport<\/td>\n Expects VAR\/IT Pro to provide support.<\/td>\n Expects VAR\/IT Pro to provide support.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Vendor data centre location<\/strong><\/td>\n Generally not an issue. <\/td>\n May have concerns or regulatory compliance issues regarding foreign storage.<\/td>\n May have concerns or regulatory compliance issues regarding foreign storage. May see foreign storage as an advantage.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n
To get started with your own computer business, check out our Computer Business Kit<\/a>. Boost Your Revenue with Cloud Storage & Backup<\/a><\/p>\n