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Why Use Four Vendors When You Can Save, Simplify, and Protect with Just One?

Business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) solutions are critical to the survival of any company operating today. Data loss can be fatal for a small to medium-sized business (SMB), with more than 60% closing their doors following a breach. Managed service providers (MSPs) supply these integral walls for a layered security approach, but too many are allowing the consequences of vendor sprawl to steal profits, growth, and efficient service delivery. As a 100% channel-only solutions provider, Axcient is giving MSPs the opportunity to lower costs, focus resources, and simplify management, while continuing to meet diverse client needs. See why Phillip Long, Founder and CEO of Business Information Solutions, Inc., has been a one-vendor MSP for nearly ten years. Could you be doing more with less?

MSPs and the need to please.

As the saying goes, ‘the client is always right,’ so when an SMB comes to an MSP seeking a backup environment – be it on-prem, offsite, appliance-based, or cloud-centric – a client-first MSP finds a vendor who can deliver. Well-intentioned MSPs are driven to meet their client’s needs and that’s great service. However, the more vendors you add to your stack, the more onboarding, training, support, billing, and restore procedures are required to maintain each solution. Every new process adds more management time, specific skills and expertise are required, tools need to be integrated, and other resources get diverted from managing growth to managing your operations.

The problem isn’t MSPs supporting a variety of client environments, or clients utilizing different backup structures. The problem lies with vendors failing to meet the needs of their MSP partners.  Eighty-two percent of MSPs offer backup solutions, and a whopping 78% of MSPs use more than one backup vendor. While MSPs are working overtime in the operations department, their profits are suffering. When you look at the top performing 25% of MSPs, you see seamless integration, elevated operational maturity levels, increased productivity and client service, and a standardized stack under the fewest vendors possible. The result is three times higher profits than the median MSP.

Direct-to-Cloud: One Backup Vendor for All Clients

When 2020 changed the digital landscape from some remote workers to all remote workers, Axcient accelerated the release of an innovation we’d been working on for years. Kevin Hoffman, Co-Founder and CTO at Axcient says, “Our vision has been to make it easy for MSPs to adapt to any of their client’s needs, in a way that you don’t have to compromise for your clients.”

Axcient Direct-to-Cloud (D2C) hardware-free BDR uses the same x360Recover chain-free backup technology but sends data straight to the secure Axcient Cloud, or launching in early 2021, to your own private cloud. Direct-to-Cloud capabilities, combined with appliance-based options, give MSPs one platform to cover the BCDR needs of all of your clients – endpoint and cloud backup, plus no-appliance and turn-key BDR. With D2C you can achieve higher profits without the stress and limitations of hardware including on-site maintenance, higher costs, surprise fees and overages, and risk of failure. Back up end-user desktops, laptops, client servers, and workstations to quickly self-manage recovery with Axcient Virtual Office. Recover entire IT infrastructures – from file and folder backups to data and applications and production servers and workstations in an instant.

What MSPs are saying… flexible, cost-efficient, and comprehensive

As Covid-19 continues to direct the digital transformation, MSPs have to be ready for anything. While some offices have opened at reduced capacity, others have shut completely. Satellite offices are new for some, and others have embraced a company-wide ‘work from anywhere’ approach. No doubt that as these restrictions are lifted at some undefinable point in the future, these environments will continue to evolve and require protection from MSPs.

Longtime Axcient Partner, Phillip Long appreciates the capability of x360Recover to store backups in their own data center, the Axcient Cloud, on-prem appliances, and now with D2C, eliminating the need for hardware. Phillip says, “There’s a lot of flexibility in being able to carve out a way to achieve our client’s goals, and do it in a way that is effective from a cost standpoint and what you’re trying to accomplish in general.”

Cost is, of course, the main concern for both MSPs and their clients. Phillip points out how frustrating it can be to navigate changing data sets, storage capacity, and pricing from multiple vendors, along with unexpected overages demanding additional resources. Phillip explains that auditing data storage “is hugely ineffective for us and it costs us a bunch of money. The client is not happy that the price went up and we’re not happy that we had to prove to them that they didn’t have anything that could be omitted. That’s another huge component of Axcient – big data store without having to go back to the well [client] for fluctuations.”

Axcient solutions give clients unlimited storage and retention, and a fixed pricing structure to enable easy cost conversations and confidence. Overall, Axcient x360Recover is proven to reduce recurring costs by up to 50%. And because x360Recover with Direct-to-Cloud covers all of your clients’ needs, standardization reduces costs – thereby increasing profits. Phillip says, “I’ve got one partner [Axcient] and I try to keep it that way because the training time is enormous. What happens is you wind up spending a lot more time on, not only fixing the problem when it does happen, just because of institutional knowledge, and no matter how well you document, you can’t get over that.” Phillip continues, “What I really like about where Axcient has come with these products, is that they don’t break that much so we don’t have a lot of costs. That’s probably the biggest thing to me.”

How much are you spending on vendor management?

As you consider your own costs, operational maturity, and profit growth potential, consider seeing x360Recover for yourself. Schedule a Demo with an Axcient Product Expert, or Start Your 14-Day Trial for free (seriously, no credit card required) to understand why MSPs are standardizing backup with Axcient.

About the Author:
Liz Mellem // Technical Copywriter, Axcient

Liz Mellem has been a freelance copywriter for over three years in the technology, education, and alternative medicine industries. She produces content, sales collateral, and email marketing campaigns that contribute to digital marketing strategies for sales growth and brand awareness. In her free time, Liz enjoys reading, exploring Austin, and Netflix with her cat, Harlem.