For companies that are looking for new ways to bring in revenue, there is a lot to be gained by looking at the cloud, especially for companies that already act as IT professionals for organizations that aren’t necessarily IT-oriented. Many organizations that historically haven’t been that heavily invested in technology such as marketing firms, attorneys, and medical practices now have a lot to gain by understanding what these technologies can do for them. This is where service providers have an opportunity to win big if they can leverage the cloud as part of their solution.
The first thing to think about for service providers is what verticals are you servicing. This is very important because a service that works great for an architect might be absolutely useless for doctor, so going out and grabbing random applications just because they sound cool won’t be effective ways to service the customer base. Think of tools that will be helpful for the vertical your organization services – marketing professionals are always interested in getting a better understanding of the audiences that they work with, so tools that assist with data collection or CRM software will be very helpful for those types of companies. Similarly, industries that heavily rely on sales agents that are mobile (ex. Insurance) would also likely benefit from a CRM but might also greatly benefit from virtual desktops. There isn’t a lot of overlap between a marketing agency and an insurance agent when looking at how they support their own customers, but by looking at applications that meet the needs of their client’s service providers can find the applications they need to master to service their base.
Next, think of how these applications add value for the customer. Using the virtual desktop as an example, it’s a great benefit for companies that collect sensitive data to not have to worry about data leakage if hardware is lost or stolen. With virtual desktops, data is saved on a server in the cloud anyway, so if an employee loses a laptop that had worked with sensitive customer data, nothing is lost. The employee can notify their manager who will then reach out to the service provider. The service provider can then change the login credentials of the employee and issue a new device. The hardware that was lost or stolen is then just a piece of plastic, and all the company has really lost is the cost to replace that plastic. This adds great value and peace of mind to clients because there is minimal risk of a lawsuit or regulatory issues due to the lost device. By combining this tip with the previous one, you will have a tool that you know can benefit your customers because you have already vetted how it will help.
Finally, think of how these solutions make the solution provider invaluable to the end customer. In the IT world, there has been a big shift away from large upfront commercial purchases to smaller, recurring purchases as seen in the cloud. By powering as much of the customer’s IT environment as possible, the service provider becomes deeply engrained in the customer’s environment which tends to make their service a lot stickier. While customers can terminate the service agreement with the service provider, it becomes much harder when the company’s VoiP system, desktops, CRM, and more all come from the same service provider who has become the dedicated IT expert. Service providers can maintain business and expand if they deliver a great solution that benefits their customers. By combining tools that revolutionize the business with the world-class service your organization provides, you become a vital business partner, not just a vendor.
Tools like these can then be hosted on dedicated server infrastructure or cloud servers so the customer can then remotely access the applications as needed. Vault Networks specializes in providing cloud infrastructure on dedicated servers and our vnCloud platform, and we also provide colocation services to customers and partners that wish to use their own hardware. For service providers that are interested in getting involved with our cloud services, we offer several channel programs to assist partners in generating margin on the cloud while taking care of their clients – they can even white label the servers if they resell them so that they remain the one point of contact for their client base.
To learn more about becoming a cloud service provider, or to learn about our services, reach out to us by calling (305) 735-8098 option 2 or by emailing sales@vaultnetworks.com.