Mary Coxon, Partner Marketing Manager, ThinkOn
Mary Coxon leads partner marketing at ThinkOn, drawing on a B2B technology marketing career spanning enterprise software, IT distribution and mobility, and CRN named her a 2024 Women of the Channel honoree for strengthening ThinkOn’s partner programs, events and education.
Partnering with a new cloud provider sounds like a big decision for an MSP, but it doesn’t have to be a big first step. ThinkOn is a Canadian-owned cloud provider that works through MSP partners. We usually start small, so nothing in production has to change. Here is what the early stretch typically looks like, in the order it tends to happen.
Step 1: Pick one layer, like an off-site immutable backup
We start with one layer that touches many of your clients. Usually that is an off-site immutable copy or data storage. It answers the question insurers and auditors keep asking, and it adds a recurring service line without displacing anything you run today.
Pick the clients who most need it: those with their own server rooms, an upcoming insurance renewal, or storage costs they can’t easily reprice.
Step 2: Get trained before you sell
Our team trains and supports you on customer engagements before your first client signs. The goal is that your first client conversation isn’t also your first time using the platform.
Step 3: Use the Partner Portal
The partner portal gives you deal registration, training resources and dedicated support. Register your first opportunities there, and use the training resources to bring your team up to speed in parallel.
Step 4: Keep what’s yours
Throughout, you keep the client relationship, the backup operations and the service. ThinkOn is the target and the backend. We work with Veeam and Commvault, with immutable storage through our Hardened Repository. We work through partners, so we don’t go around you to your clients.
Step 5: Add disaster recovery when the client is ready
Once the first layer like the off-site copy is in place, many clients are ready for the next question: not just whether the copy exists, but whether they can recover from it. That is where DRaaS and Zerto come in, with recovery matched to what each client’s workloads need.
Step 6: Move workloads as hardware comes due
When a client’s hardware reaches refresh, you have a choice that doesn’t require capital: VPC, Private Cloud or Bare Metal, all generally available. You move at the client’s pace, and you stay the service provider the whole way.
Questions to ask a cloud partner in your first meeting
- Which of my clients would benefit most from an off-site copy this quarter?
- What training will my team get, and when?
- How does deal registration work for my first opportunity?
- Who do I call when I’m stuck?
Ready to pick your first layer?
Talk to our partner team and we’ll set up a call.
