SAAS or On-Premise E-mail: Which is Best? - Hybrid: DirectPointe Small Office Solution Pro
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HYBRID SOLUTIONS
DirectPointe Small Office Solution Pro
Hybrid solutions basically combine premise equipment with a managed services component and SAAS elements. The customer leases the on-premise equipment and pays a monthly fee for access to applications, updates and support. In most cases, a solution provider is the primary point of contact and shares the administrative burden with the vendor. The advantages to a hybrid solution range from customizability to customer control of the data. Players here include DirectPointe, FileEngine and a few others.
DirectPointe takes a very different approach to providing a customer with the needed bits to build a network. The company melds open-source software with cloud-based services to create a platform that meets the needs of a typical small business.
Interestingly, solution providers can download the open-source pieces of the platform for free and then use compatible hardware to deliver the platform to customers. The fastest, easiest and arguably most ideal implementation will incorporate a server purchased from DirectPointe, along with the appropriate services. Solution providers can expect margins of about 30 percent when reselling the DirectPointe Small Office Solution Pro.
The DirectPointe Small Office Solution Pro consists of hardware and software all billed monthly based upon a 48 month contract, the following is included in the configuration we selected:
- Dell Server with 148Gbytes of Storage
- Google Apps Premier Edition (e-mail, scheduling, etc.)
- 10 User VPN Access with DDNS Support
- Remote Backup Service (25 Gbytes of Storage)
- Antivirus, antispam services
DirectPointe’s offering includes all the basics to make sure a customer has everything that is needed to put together and protect a basic network. E-mail, scheduling, collaboration and many other elements are handled in the cloud, via Google Apps Premier Edition, which is included in the monthly fee. Our configuration came in at $667 per month (based upon a four-year contract), which works out to $24,012 for three years and approximately $67 per user per month. With an estimated margin of 30 percent, a solution provider should be able to expect a gross profit of roughly $7,200 over three years. Solution providers can pad that profit with installation services, training and options.
Messaging and Collaboration 
