AppRiver has appointed its first UK distributor, Blue Solutions.
The email messaging and web security specialist says the software-focused distie will offer AppRiver’s entire portfolio – including Office365 Plus and Secure Hosted Exchange – via a monthly billing model.
Mark Charleton, co-founder and director of Blue Solutions says he is “extremely excited by the opportunities this partnership opens up to us,” adding that there’s already a customer waiting to trial one of AppRiver’s services “before the ink was even dry on our agreement.”
AppRiver – which has its EMEA HQ in Switzerland – offers its partners a management console, designed with the two tiers needed – a portal where Blue Solutions can log in and create its partners, and then a separate portal where resellers log in and create end users. Both can be branded accordingly.
Says AppRiver’s EMEA channel director Jim Tyer: “We’re thrilled to have a partner with the experience, expertise and commitment of Blue Solutions. The fact it had a customer willing to trial on day one I think is testament to the contacts it has and the opportunities in the market at the moment.”
Charleton says the firm’s transition from box shifter to a value-add distributor means it works with vendors that are committed to the channel. He says: “AppRiver is the perfect fit for us and its products will be a key addition to our portfolio, where we’re seeing demand, particularly for email security, encryption and hosted exchange.”
Charleton argues that while Microsoft’s discontinuing of its Small Business Server has reated demand for hosted Exchange and Office 365, end-users now have to invest in an Exchange server, which is expensive, or commit to an annual contract. “That’s why AppRiver’s unique offering is compelling for partners,” explains Mark. “It allows us to procure Office365 services which we can then offer to customers, in a flexible way they want and can afford.”
Meanwhile, Charleton takes a jab at vendors that “think they don’t need a distributor, cutting us out of the equation – with varying degrees of success and failure.” He comments: “Finding vendors that are channel-focused, and distribution friendly, is a battle but AppRiver completely understand the value created by Blue Solutions.”
