Load Balancer Upgrade: ROCKERDUCK

Last night we successfully switched ROCKERDUCK users over to the new CAS load balancer.

The new Load Balancer is based off the same custom solution we designed with the original load balancer, however we have improved the hardware resources and the “Least Count” algorithm to be a bit more accurate in handling Outlook connections. This is the same solution we implemented about two months ago on LOUIE and seen dramatic improvements in overall latency and resource utilization.

Travis Sheldon
VP of Network Operations, ExchangeDefender
(877) 546-0316 x757
travis@ownwebnow.com

Why Are You Different From Your Competition?

Two weeks ago at IT Nation 2012, I spent most of my time speaking with current partners and the vast majority of the feedback we got was positive which tells me, I’m doing my job right! Obviously, some partners may disagree and that is fine. As a consumer you do not differentiate support from development or which resource each team has available, as you shouldn’t. That brings me to the one point I made to new partners coming from other providers, what can I expect from you, that they won’t do? Same answer, support; by that I mean actual support.

One specific question was, hey I am currently with X Spam Solution and they are killing me with false positives, I am looking for someone who doesn’t. My response was, (I am not a liar hence why I do not work in sales and Vlad begs me to lie to him about bad news, that’s just me) look I’d be lying to you if I said no, but I will say this if you have a problem with and you document it to my team, we WILL adjust. This guy was told by his provider “Nope, the rules as they are”. That is an offer that always stands if you open a ticket with documentation. Meaning provide me some .msg files illustrating your client’s problem, and we WILL make an adjustment.

Case in point one of our existing partners had a bad rash of the case above to the point where they received an ultimatum. His team stepped up, got us some good documentation and by the time the show ended he came over to shake my hand for pretty much saving that account for us both. That’s why we go that extra mile, if you lose them, we lose them, period.

But help me help you, you can not walk into a doctor and say it hurts without telling him where and expect him to fix it. Document and ye shall receive.

Carlos Lascano
VP Support Services, ExchangeDefender
carlos@ownwebnow.com
(877) 546-0316 x737

ConnectWise IT Nation

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of our partners who attended the 2012 ConnectWise IT Nation conference in Orlando. First, let me say it was a pleasure to meet and talk to you all about our partnership and your business. One of the many things I enjoy about by position with Own Web Now is the talking to you, our partners, about your businesses. The majority of solutions we release are directly influenced by our partners. It is our partners who keep us in business. Without you, I would be the most popular fry guy at my local McDonalds. With that said, thank you sincerely for your business. We look forward to releasing new and exciting products that will be beneficial for you and your clients.

During the 3 day event, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk casually with a few of partners about our support and development team. While I would say 98% of the feedback was positive, there was constructive feedback that we walked away with. And that is where, in my opinion, we differ from our competition. Although positive feedback is always appreciated; we welcome constructive feedback to make our staff, our products, and our relationship with our partners better. Each of us that attended the conference walked away with a list of items to improve on—whether it concerned support, development, communication, or marketing. In order to be successful in business, you have to be hitting on all cylinders. In short, we listen…

So if you ever have a question about our products and services; pick up the phone and give me a call or drop me an email. I am more than happy to sit and talk to you about your business and how ExchangeDefender and Shockey Monkey solution could fit into your business offerings.

Michael D. Alligood
Partner Sales & Support, ExchangeDefender & Shockey Monkey
michael@ownwebnow.com
(877) 546-0316 x707

SPAM Reports

I usually like to tackle common questions on my blog updates and the most common one the last few weeks has been ExchangeDefender Essentials and its feature set. The biggest question, and unfortunately it comes in after provisioning, is regarding SPAM reports.

Is it or is it not a feature of the Essentials packages?

Unfortunately, it is not. However, we have a slew of options for you in both the “I need to manage my quarantines” and “my client is cost conscious but wants reports”. So to address the folks that ask “OK, so how do I manage my quarantine?” question, we offer multiple superior options to the report (since these are all real time access).

* Web Portal at https://admin.exchangedefender.com
* Outlook Add-In – It becomes a ribbon in Outlook its available in the Downloads section
* Desktop Annoyerizer – It notifies you via a pop up every time you a quarantine item, also available in the Downloads section
* Mobile at https://admin.exchangedefender.com/mobile via an HTML5 enable browser

As far as the cost issue, give us a call at 877-546-0316 our volume pricing brings both products pretty close.

Carlos Lascano
VP Support Services, ExchangeDefender
carlos@ownwebnow.com
(877) 546-0316 x737

Hey Look a Shiny New…

In the world of IT and technology there are new products, vendors, and businesses models that spring up promising the latest and greatest in techno bliss. It’s fun for us geek types to check out the newest products and services that hit the market; it is one of the reasons many of us are in this line of work.

Having worked with many IT solution companies and MSP’s, one thing that seems to be a recurring theme with every company is the fact that most IT businesses have been burned by a vendor at one point or another. Some of those new vendors that promised the world, under deliver or worst yet, close their doors leaving you to hold the bag and explain things to your customers.

In the IT industry loyalty is strong and the vendor/provider relationship is a pretty sacred bond. For many that move to a new solution,then to get burned, going back to the original vendor becomes next to impossible from a pride standpoint. This fact makes evaluating new solutions and especially new vendors even more important.

Be sure if you are looking to make a switch that it is for the right reasons. Talk to your existing vendor. If you are looking at moving based on price, a quick call may be a worthwhile investment, as most vendors want to keep your business. This becomes even truer when there is a competitive element attached. If the move is for newer technology, that same phone call may gain you information about upcoming additions or changes to the current vendor product line.

Sometimes change is a necessity and if your current vendor isn’t meeting your needs, or is letting you down, it may be time to explore other options. Most of the time though, the reason IT companies explore new partnerships can usually be tracked back to a lack of communication. Though all vendors can get better at communication, building a relationship is a two-way street. This makes returning calls, attending webinars, and reaching out regularly an important part of running a successful business.

It just may be, that the shiny new thing, is right in front of you… 

Frank Gurnee
VP, Channel Services, ExchangeDefender
(877) 546-0316 x4777
frank@ownwebnow.com

Visit Us at ConnectWise IT Nation 2012!

ConnectWise is coming to Orlando, FL for IT Nation 2012!! Since we don’t have to travel far to go to IT Nation 2012 because it is in our backyard we are bringing a bunch of our senior staff that a lot of our partners interact with. We want to take this wonderful opportunity to reconnect with many of our partners and talk to them in person, meet new people within the industry, and showcase all of the great new additions to our solution set!

ExchangeDefender will be at Booth #415 and we will have a prize wheel this year!! Our booth visitors will have the chance to win: iPads, iPods, Kindles, FREE products, and so much more!!!

Come by and visit some of our staff: Vlad Mazek – CEO, Carlos Lascano – VP of Support Services, Stephanie Hasenour – VP of Marketing, Anastasia Wiggins – Partner Communications Manager, and Michael Alligood – Partner Sales and Support. Make sure you stop by and say hello and give the wheel a spin! We will be at the event from Thursday, 11/8 through Saturday, 11/10!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Stephanie Hasenour
VP Marketing, ExchangeDefender
stephanie@ownwebnow.com

Jargon

“Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession.” – Kingman Brewster, Jr.

Jargon impresses no one—especially your clients. More than likely, they do not care how many letters you have after your name, how many years you have in the field, or even if you graduated high school. If you try to explain connectivity issues like this:

“The TCP/IP stack is called a stack because it contains 4 layers chained together. Sometimes the links between layers can become broken resulting in total loss of connection to the network. If you experience total connection loss and you get no reply when you type “ping 127.0.0.1” at the command prompt your stack has probably become corrupted. If you get a reply from the ping, but still can’t connect to the network your problem is elsewhere.”

You may have just totally confused your clients and made them feel like idiots. Sounding pretentious will not impress your clients. Being able to explain the problem and solution in a way that is understandable will. Furthermore, eliminating the jargon and communicating on a “down to Earth” level opens the door to educate your clients on the technology they are running.

Explaining situations and solutions in laymen term doesn’t mean you are dumbing yourself down. It simply means that you are accurately describing the situation to your clients so that they can understand. Many times, they don’t even have to understand the entire concept.

“That thing unexpectedly broke causing you not to surf the Internet. The reason why it broke is currently unclear, however; I can replace it and get you back up and surfing. After words, I will investigate to see if this is something that can be prevented in the future.”

Michael D. Alligood
Partner Sales & Support, ExchangeDefender & Shockey Monkey
michael@ownwebnow.com
(877) 546-0316 x707

Pricing Services

For many IT solution companies, pricing seems to be a never-ending game of chance. When do you raise prices? When do you drop prices? What do you charge to be competitive? How do you stay profitable?

These are all valid questions and the truth is, there is no real right answer when it comes to pricing. It has been conceived in the IT community that you must get X for certain services and you must charge Y for others. This has been developed by certain advisors and coaches based on past experience in certain areas.

Though some of this can be good information and provide a good starting point it is by no means the definitive. Getting pricing right can take time and unfortunately it is sometimes a gamble with the potential of losing business. Price too high equals lost business, price too low and the potential is lost revenues or worst yet possible negative revenues.

The key is in research. This means putting on your stealth hat and calling the competition, or having someone do it for you. Researching the competitions pricing will give you the best insight into your area. It is recommended to gather as many prices as possible to give the most accurate picture.

Once you have gathered the information necessary, you must determine a good place to be with your pricing. If you are new to the area you may want to sit at the lower end of the pricing spectrum or provide incentives to build a book of business.  This could mean providing promotions or introductory service offerings to gain recognition in the community.

If you are an established business you can price your services at the top of the pricing average. It is important if you do this, to utilize your referral network as well as reputation to market higher quality, trusted services. The nice thing about an established business is you have more opportunity to provide discounts to win business.

Be assured that initially you will not have the perfect price. Pricing is ever evolving and changing. Established businesses can raise prices slightly each year with little push back from customers but make small price increases or you may risk business.

One controversial notion is to pass on savings when you meet tiered price savings from IT vendors. Generally IT companies have added these savings to their revenue and there is nothing wrong with this. It may however be a significant differentiator to show customers savings when you meet tiered pricing goals.

No matter how you price your services, make sure to pay attention to your sales. Monitor the reasons why potential customers choose other providers by simply asking them why they went with the competition and don’t be afraid to make adjustments to your pricing on the fly. When it comes to pricing nothing is set in stone.

Frank Gurnee
VP, Channel Services, ExchangeDefender
(877) 546-0316 x4777
frank@ownwebnow.com