The highest channel margins are not the only thing IT resellers want from a cloud storage product. But they help…
If you’re looking to become a channel partner or to resell cloud storage solutions to your clients, read my article for an overview of how to recognise a great deal and product. I hope this will help you find the best channel programme for your business and clients. If you have any questions, please let me know.
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The highest channel margins for cloud storage solutions
Let’s not beat around the bush. All IT resellers are interested in profit margins. While it’s great to add value for your clients by recommending and selling the best cloud storage solution for their needs; if you’re going to resell a SaaS product you might as well get a slice of the profits.
In recent years there has been a race to the bottom when it comes to channel margins. The margin for reselling well-known SaaS products from the tech giants has eroded as IT resellers have undercut each other and reduced margins to basic points.
However, impressive channel margins are there for the taking if you look at more niche products rather than enterprise one-size-fits-all solutions. Besides, by reselling products with the highest channel margins you can mitigate against the impact of competitors discounting the same solution, especially if you wrap other services around the product to drive even higher channel margins.
At Nimbox we offer unrivalled margins because our model is to help IT resellers establish a profitable revenue stream with little upfront cost. Of course, we want to sell our cloud storage solution, but we also want to ensure resellers are incentivised to sell it. That’s why we offer such high margins.
So although some people might tell you that channel margins are not the be-all-and-end-all, they certainly help and we believe our channel programme is the best in the cloud storage space.
However, there are other things you should be looking for when choosing a channel partner…
Channel programmes – keeping control of your clients
Most of our IT resellers have fantastic relationships with their clients. Often they provide a range of IT services like IT support, consultancy, business continuity and IT security, generally working with clients on an ongoing basis.
They know their clients really well and are the first port of call should a client have an issue or need help with their IT. Which is why reselling a SaaS solution and in the process losing control over their client isn’t a great fit for their business. With most channel programmes, once you’ve resold the product the channel service provider takes ownership of your clients, not you. That can make it difficult for you to have full visibility of your clients’ IT infrastructure and estate, which in turn may make it harder to deliver other services in a holistic way.
Fortunately, there are a few providers who have developed their SaaS solutions to provide resellers with full control over their clients. Nimbox is one of them.
We provide a portal for channel resellers where they can manage all their clients in one place. This makes it easy to align Nimbox with SLAs, provide value and optimise Nimbox for each unique client. Not only that, we don’t have access to your clients’ data as it’s encrypted and decrypted client-side and they hold the encryption key. We’re very hands-off unless you need us.
We also offer custom branding so you can ensure your clients know exactly who to contact if they need support with their cloud storage. Our premium channel reseller programme effectively allows your business to white label Nimbox and resell as one of your services.
Robust technical support is critical to your success
Another factor that can differentiate channel programmes, is the technical support available to the reseller. If you want to retain ownership of your clients and integrate cloud storage solutions into your IT services, you’ll need support if an issue arises with the SaaS or if you need to know how to do something on behalf of your client.
Technical support should also be available to the reseller to help them be more successful too. Our resellers say that Nimbox’s UK technical support is one of the key reasons they chose us over other cloud storage products. They can access our comprehensive knowledge base 24/7 or our UK support team during core business hours.
We’re on hand to answer your questions to help you resell the product, but also to ensure it’s a good fit for your client. This is particularly important for customer retention and building long term client relationships, our resellers want to know that our cloud storage solution is exactly what their clients need.
Nimbox also provides free marketing materials to help channel resellers communicate the benefits of the product to existing and new clients.
To learn more and for a free demo, click on this link and complete the form.
Channel resellers need a great product
Which brings me to the final point about what makes a great channel programme. The product itself. As a salesperson you may be able to sell snow to Eskimos, but do you really want to? Wouldn’t you prefer to have a product that you believe in?
It’s really important to consider how a new IT product will sit within your business’ offering. Does it complement your existing services and products? Does it integrate with other solutions your business offers? Is it aligned with your clients’ requirements, including their sector, size of operation and budget?
These are all questions you should ask before signing up to a channel programme. After all, channel margins are immaterial if your clients don’t need or want the product.
We’ve developed Nimbox for organisations that require a cloud storage solution without compromising on security. They want the benefits of the cloud, the ability to collaborate easily and share files and documents internally and externally. But they also want a more secure solution than many of the SaaS products in the marketplace.
Nimbox also addresses the challenges organisations in the regulated industries have with the cloud. If your customers are in the financial services, law, health, education or other regulated sectors, our product provides access to cloud computing and all the benefits, such as increased productivity and better collaboration.
Here’s a snapshot of why Nimbox is a great cloud storage product for clients that need robust security:
- Nimbox’s servers are in the UK – this is a requirement for many organisations operating in the regulated industries. Multi-location backup is also standard,
- Zero-Knowledge encryption – all data is encrypted and the client holds the encryption key. Not even Nimbox can see your clients’ data,
- GDPR compliant – Nimbox provides organisations with an appropriate technical measure to ensure personal data is processed securely,
- Unlimited file versioning and server snapshots – your clients can quickly recover their data in the event of a ransomware attack or other IT incident. This also removes any concerns about inadvertently overwriting documents as previous versions can be instantly restored,
- Anti-ransomware – as outlined above, server snapshots enables Nimbox to recover your data from the root level in just a few clicks. Your clients don’t have to pay the ransom, they can just go back in time to a ransomware-free form of their data,
- Integration – most organisations want IT solutions that can be integrated with their existing applications like Office 365, Microsoft Office and Active Directory. Nimbox integrates with these popular apps as well as others,
- All the benefits of SaaS – you already know the benefits of SaaS solutions – scalability, lower cost of ownership, predictable costs, faster disaster recovery and improved business continuity – Nimbox does all this too.
GDPR and 3rd party cloud storage solutions
GDPR was a catalyst for many organisations to wake up to data privacy issues and the potential ramifications of a data breach. For some businesses, it wasn’t until they started their GDPR journey that business leaders realised their data and IP could be breached easily via some cloud storage solutions. Or that their business is non-compliant with industry regulations if it stores data offshore on non-UK servers.
That doesn’t mean that regulated organisations can’t get the benefits of cloud storage and cloud computing. If you have clients that operate in these industries – such as law, financial services and healthcare – they can still work collaboratively and remotely using cloud storage solutions, without compromising their data.
GDPR requires organisations to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure personal data is processed securely. Nimbox addresses GDPR by keeping data in the UK and with Zero-Knowledge encryption.
Zero-Knowledge encryption means that only the client has access to their data. The encryption key is held by the client so if someone attacked Nimbox’s servers they wouldn’t be able to see the data. Article 32 of the GDPR includes encryption as an example of an appropriate technical measure to process personal data securely. Encryption also protects any highly sensitive documents that might contain valuable intellectual property, making backdoor attacks ineffective too.
What’s the right channel cloud storage product for you?
In summary, here’s a checklist of key factors that will help you identify the right channel reseller programme for your business:
- Channel margins – will they deliver a profitable revenue stream?
- Pricing – are there any upfront costs to you the reseller, and how much will it cost your clients?
- Client ownership – whose clients are they anyway? Can you keep control of your clients?
- White label – is there an opportunity to custom brand the solution if required?
- Technical support – will the technical support provided enable you to deliver on SLA targets and provide the service your clients require?
- Marketing materials – will the provider help you resell with access to free marketing materials?
- Product fit – does the cloud storage solution complement your existing products and services, is it a good fit for your clients and your business?
Reselling IT products, like cloud storage solutions, is a great way to add value for your clients and introduce a new revenue stream for your business.
To explore our cloud storage solution in more detail or to learn more about becoming a channel partner with Nimbox, request a call back here.