Launched back in February of this year, Symantec has recently announced new enhancements to its Symantec Partner Management Console for Managed Service Providers (MSPs).
The Partner Management Console is a web-based portal that allows MSPs to remotely manage all aspects of their customer services such as trial subscriptions or policy updates as well as offer customized reporting. According to Stephen Banbury, Vice President, Worldwide Channel & Alliance Marketing at Symantec, the console is targeted at two Symantec solutions: Symantec Endpoint Protection.cloud and Symantec Backup Exec.cloud.
“We have put in some interesting enhancements that will help the newer MSPs or VARs transitioning to the MSP space,” noted Banbury. “The [enhancements] reduce the cost of managing multiple customers because you are aggregating. I think that it drives growth and accelerates profitability for MSPs because you can set up customers quickly and it’s easy to provision customers accounts and the management of subscriptions.”
One such enhancement is the ability to monitor and manage subscription services and the ability for MSPs to personalize usage, status, and security reports with their logo.
“It allows the MSP to demonstrate value to the customer through customized and co-branded reporting,” Banbury said.
Another new feature is integrated support where an MSP can log a support ticket directly in the console and not be handled by a Symantec Worldwide team of service experts.
For established MSPs, Symantec has added new integrations with several Remote Management and Monitoring (RMM) platform providers. The Symantec Backup Exec 2012 Management Plug-in 1.1 for Kaseya enables partners to leverage the combined data and application protection capabilities of Symantec’s Backup Exec with the management and remote monitoring capabilities of the Kaseya management solution. The plug-in lets Kaseya users monitor and manage Symantec Backup Exec servers in the customer environments remotely from within the Kaseya Virtual System Administrator (VSA) console.
Symantec is also extending its MSP reach through integrations with Level Platforms and Lab Tech Software. Symantec and Level Platforms announced their second advanced integration with the release of the Symantec Endpoint Protection Service Module. From a single dashboard, MSPs can access up-to-date information on the health of all their customers’ endpoint protection deployments providing more efficient service for monitoring, managing and troubleshooting their endpoint protection infrastructure on the Level Platforms RMM platform.
Lab Tech Software announced Symantec’s partnership in LabTech’s Technology Alliance Partner Program (TAPP). Through Symantec’s participation, existing and future Symantec customers will be able to leverage the LabTech Software RMM platform to deploy, set up, manage and monitor back up and endpoint security across multiple domains, customers and offices from a single console and location.
“[MSPs] are really looking for more robust management capabilities across multiple solutions so these plug-ins help us do that,” explained Banbury.
Symantec Endpoint Protection.cloud and Symantec Backup Exec.cloud are also available through the ExSP licensing program, a pay-as-you-go model that offers service provider partners flexibility to buy Symantec software in a monthly subscription-based model and rewards service partners for their growth by reducing licensing costs as their volume of business increases. The Symantec ExSP Licensing Program is open to qualified service provider partners enrolled in Symantec’s Partner Program and requires no upfront licensing or support costs. Symantec Backup Exec 2012 and Symantec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition (SBE) are also supported through this program.
Symantec also offers several programs that provide financial incentives, technical support, sales and technical enablement, along with demand generation and marketing tools.
“It is all very well saying here are some new capabilities or here is a new console but around that needs to be good material in terms of training enablement and demoes,” noted Banbury.
The Symantec Partner Management Console is available now in English globally and where Symantec Endpoint Protection.cloud and Symantec Backup Exec.cloud are available. Customers are encouraged to check with their distribution partner to ensure availability.
ExSP licensing for Symantec Endpoint Protection SBE and Symantec Endpoint Protection.cloud ranges from $1.11 to $1.35 per user per month. Backup Exec 2012 ranges from $31.44 to 36.66 per server per month and Backup Exec.cloud costs $ 3.20 per 10 GB per month.
“Symantec really wants to be great in the MSP space and … what you will see from us is a continued push and support of the MSP space,” Banbury said.
