Yesterday we held a webcast to announce our messaging portfolio for 2011. If you missed it, the recording along with the webinar and podcast is now available.
The biggest news of the day was ExchangeDefender Managed Messaging, combining all the services necessary to go to the cloud in one affordable package. The second biggest announcement was regarding CloudBlock. Why? In the past few years we have seen Microsoft and Google commoditize the entire enterprise email solution space. These moves were not welcomed by the reseller channel partners, even as both companies stepped up their efforts to become more partner friendly their primary goal was ownership of the client. Indeed, many partners have lost clients to BPOS and Google Apps. Sometimes the price is the only thing that matters. Given the economy, and the relative lack of appreciation for the more complex messaging needs, the low-cost commodity email has become quite popular. What is CloudBlock? CloudBlock, Inc is a third-party solution powered by the technology licensed from Own Web Now, ExchangeDefender and Exchange 2010 hosting management in particular. It’s primary goal is to be simple to use. It’s secondary goal is to be cost effective. There are two solutions in the stack: Mail (Exchange 2010 hosted in the cloud) and Security (SMTP security in the cloud, filtering SPAM and viruses as well as providing for business continuity). Simplicity: Anyone can sign up at any time. Cost Effectiveness: $2.99 for Exchange 2010 Mbox (5GB) and $0.35 for SMTP security. What isn’t CloudBlock? CloudBlock is not a channel-centric solution, it does not come with the flexible branding, centralized multi-client management or worldwide presence. But it’s simple to sign up and it’s cheap. CloudBlock is not backed by a professional services business, support is limited to covering the basics. The Strategy CloudBlock was designed to be simple and cost effective. As such, it will not meet the needs of many channel resellers, MSPs or VARs. However, it provides for a level of differentiation. There is a huge difference between CloudBlock and an ExchangeDefender powered Exchange solution. There are tons of benefits when it comes to working with a local IT Solution Provider. Unfortunately, sometimes the only thing that matters is the bottom line price. If the client is not willing to consider anything but the price, now you have a differentiation strategy. If you cannot clearly explain the difference between your various offerings, you cannot help your client choose the correct one for them. When IT Solution Provider is pinned against Microsoft and Google, and the client only cares about the price, it’s a loss-loss situation. With CloudBlock, there is at least a hope of keeping them in your solution portfolio so you can fit your other solutions in their business. You now have a better alternative to BPOS and Google Apps – it’s simpler and cheaper – and we’re confident we’ll help you win. Sincerely, To be continued with ExchangeDefender Essentials. See previous entry about ExchangeDefender Managed Messaging. |
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