1. arnnet.com.au | | 26 November 2014
Nermin Bajric (NB): RackCorp’s stated
goal is to provide partners with a premium
network and infrastructure. What trends are
challenging the company’s ability to do so,
and what is it doing to counter these?
RackCorp sales and marketing director,
David Coote (DC): One issue we face is
how best to convey to partners, and in
turn their clients, the vast differences
that exist between Infrastructure-as-a-
Service (IaaS) providers. It would appear
a race to the bottom is well underway
between many IaaS providers which has
subsequently had an impact on margins
and partners are rightfully concerned.
Price is important, however if you ask
most businesses, security, control and
support are far more important. All Clouds
are certainly not created equal and we
spend time educating our partners so they
can in turn educate their clients on the
differences. We also offer our partners the
opportunity to increase revenues through
the resale of our Content Delivery Network
and our DDoS protection Solution. We
believe it’s important for our partners to be
able to offer an end-to-end solution.
Another major issue we see facing the
industry is the complex pricing model
many IaaS providers have adopted, and
the way this impacts ones ability to deliver
the right solution to the client at the right
price. If you cannot compare apples with
apples the net result is the partner ends up
with egg on their face as the client receives
the wrong solution, and then to rub salt
into the wound they receive a much larger
bill than expected.
I recall working with one of our
partners on a tender that involved 103
virtual machines, and in this case a well-known
IaaS provider was also tendering
for the business. After submitting the
tender we were informed we were 35
per cent more expensive than the other
provider. Knowing this was extremely
unlikely I insisted the CIO dig deeper as I
had a genuine concern they were heading
down a dangerous road; in short, the
solution they had suggested would not
have facilitated the computing needs of
the client.
NB: What is RackCorp’s differentiator in
enabling resellers to become successful
Cloud services providers?
DC: It starts with the foundations. By
that I mean providing our partners with
a premium network and infrastructure
including multiple points of presence in
Australia. If the foundation isn’t strong
the business will fail. Our partners have
to believe 100 per cent in the solution
they are selling. It’s our role to alleviate
the concerns a partner may have around
security, reliability, performance and
control. We insist new partners conduct
their own due diligence by benchmarking
us against other providers. We find that
having that clarity translates into better
business outcomes for our partners.
We also spend a lot of time working
with our partners to ensure they are able
to have robust conversations with their
clients. This means educating our partners
so they can in turn educate their clients
on the vast differences that exist between
infrastructure providers.
NB: What’s on RackCorp’s 2015 channel
agenda?
DC: In 2014 we launched our new partner
program and we have seen a healthy
uptake of new partners and shared
some fantastic wins. In 2015 we are
looking forward to growing with our
existing partners while at the same time
expanding our network of new partners.
We have some exciting joint marketing
activities that we are undertaking with
selective partners and I am looking
forward to seeing them come to fruition.
We are also launching an initiative to
assist partners reduce the sales cycle and
increase their margins.
Many of our partners have reported
in 2014 that clients they have been
discussing Cloud with for years are
contacting them asking for a proposal.
It’s obvious the movement to the Cloud
is building.
6
INTERVIEW
RackCorp
Australian-owned RackCorp appointed David Coote as its sales and marketing director in April. He was
brought on board to redesign the company’s go-to-market strategy, and implement a new partner program.
ARN’s NERMIN BAJRIC spoke with him about the vendor’s challenges, differentiator, and channel roadmap.
ALL CLOUDS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL
“IT WOULD APPEAR A RACE
TO THE BOTTOM IS WELL
UNDERWAY BETWEEN MANY
IAAS PROVIDERS”
RackCorp’s David Coote