VAR to VAR

Another solution provider seizing the managed storage opportunity is XiloCore, a joint venture of three solution providers—AllConnected, of Simi Valley, Calif.; Connecting Point of Las Vegas; and Connecting Point of Greeley, Colo. XiloCore teamed up with Asigra, a vendor of agentless backup and recovery software, to put together a managed backup, recovery and business continuity service that it sells exclusively to the VAR channel.

"XiloCore was necessitated by client demand for a better way to protect their data and being able to earn recurring revenue for delivering managed services for business continuity," said Alan McDonald, president of AllConnected.

Most importantly, McDonald added, networking with his VAR peers was instrumental in the launch of the company and the service. "The bottom line is that as solution providers we all share the same pains," he said.

With the support of more than 100 fellow solution providers, the XiloCore partners opted to offer the service to other VARs, as opposed to marketing it to users. "We saw that we could partner to bring a new service to market, make it more reliable, [and] offer a better infrastructure, better support, a solid methodology, and a lower cost scale," McDonald said.

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Following its September launch, XiloCore signed up more than 45 VARs as partners.

A growing trend

Zenith Infotech and Xilocore are new players in what has essentially become a channel within a channel. It's a market that goes back at least five years, when solution provider ConnectWise, of Tampa, Fla., identified an opportunity to sell technology to other VARs and integrators. That technology is ConnectWisePSA, a business automation solution now used by more than 16,000 IT professionals, according to ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini.

The business automation software has become a hit among solution providers because it was something they needed but had no access to, Bellini said.

Other VARs have followed similar paths to that of Connectwise. Network Management Group, in Hutchinson, Kan., launched DoubleCheck Email Manager, an e-mail firewall appliance that includes McAfee anti-virus software. Darren McBride, founder of Sierra Computers, in Reno, Nev., started Highly Reliable Systems and launched the High-Rely disk-to-disk backup system line. John Williams, CEO of Safenet, a solution provider in Atlanta, started eFolder for online remote backup and reporting.

Paul Eberting, president of Computer Connection in American Fork, Utah, is headed down a similar path. He's currently working with SecurityMetrics to help take its PCI Compliance solution to the VAR community, something SecurityMetrics hasn't done to date.

"It will be a revenue-generation opportunity and an opportunity for new business," said Eberting, who added he has plans to market the technology to members of VentureTech Network, a group of solution providers affiliated with distributor Ingram Micro.

Inspired by the venture, SecurityMetrics is going back to the drawing board to develop more tools for the channel.

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