Altaro, which provides virtual machine data protection, has announced the Altaro VM Backup for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) recurring revenue channel program.
Altaro has signed up more than 6,000 channel partners worldwide, but the partner program formally introduces subscription pricing and provides MSPs access to the Cloud Management Console (CMC), an online tool for partners to monitor and manage geographically dispersed VM Backup customer deployments.
“Our vision for growth is entirely centered around the strength of our channel,” said Eric Krauss, vice president of sales for Altaro. “VM Backup for MSPs represents a huge investment in our partners and our team, taking the protection of virtual infrastructure to the next level. The program complements our powerful solution with a partner-centric support system that assists MSPs in expediting customer deployments for faster time to revenue. The initial response to the program has been exceptional with over 300 new MSP partners teaming with Altaro in recent months. As a result, this has accounted for a significant number of new end-user installations worldwide.”
In a report on server virtualization, Gartner found that approximately 80 percent of x86 server workloads are virtualized, making virtual server backup and data recovery an enormous market opportunity for MSPs. However, because virtual infrastructure differs substantially from physical IT environments, IT service providers require backup and recovery solutions that are designed to meet the unique challenges presented by virtual machines.
Altaro VM Backup for MSPs is a subscription-based channel program designed for MSPs to support the monitoring and management of all customer Hyper-V and VMware backups from a single cloud console. The program also reduces upfront costs with a pay-per-virtual machine (VM) per-month model that provides access to all of the latest features that Altaro VM Backup offers. Altaro also has developed a call center with live agents and on-demand live chat with experts when service needs arise.
The Altaro program supports managed backup services based on the VM Backup software platform, which includes Augmented Inline Deduplication for faster performance and higher density data reduction, and compression that the company says reduces storage costs by 64 percent on average. The latest generation software also includes support for Windows Server 2016, integrity testing, and Boot from Backup which enables the administrator to instantly reboot virtual machines from the backup location to minimize downtime in the event of an emergency.
About 1,500 of the registered Altaro partners operate in the United States and Canada with 4,500 partners located in countries outside North America. Using the Cloud Management Console (CMC), Altaro partners are managing the backup of 9,000 customer installations with 50,000 virtual machines (VMs) backed up monthly.
“With a majority of critical business applications now hosted on virtual infrastructure, MSPs must have the ability to protect critical information in these environments in order to remain relevant,” said Jessie Weems, CEO, Dynamic Networks. “The Altaro channel program provides us with a low risk/high return alternative to managed backup service delivery that is very compelling. VM Backup for MSPs combines the right mix of technology and support to empower partners like us to succeed in this high demand market.”
