Kroll Ontrack today targeted Apple VARs with a new product that will offer Apple partners more control over the data recovery services they can offer to customers.
“This was created from direct feedback that we received from Apple and some of the Authorized Service Providers that they needed a way to do business with us when their customers had a data loss situation,” says Todd Johnson, vice president of data recovery operations for Kroll Ontrack. “They needed a way that was seamless, straightforward, easy to use and they could engage with us in real time.”
According to Johnson, Kroll Ontrack’s currently does half of its Apple recovery business with via Apple ASPs and VARs. The services support Mac OS X computers, iPods and iPhones, plus MacMail Microsoft Entourage and Apple Xsan2 clustered file systems.
Under the previous partner program, service providers had to spend a significant amount of time on the phone tracking recovery jobs and the registration and shipping processes were not seamless enough to meet their needs. In addition, some ASPs were facing problems with warranty drives, which had strict service requirements in order to keep the customers’ warranty agreements.
Through the new portal, Apple partners can register a recovery job online and will immediately receive details about shipping, which is paid by Kroll Ontrack. Once the drive arrives on site, Kroll offers a free assessment and then provides real-time tracking of drive status via the portal, giving partners the power to approve or deny further work without ever having to navigate a phone tree.
“There was a lot of automation that we had to put in place so that it wasn't so time-consuming to the VARs and they could get immediate answers to statuses and get immediate shipping instructions and all of the logistics are handled accordingly and their not having to be on the phone all of the time,” Johnson says.
More importantly, the portal offers assurance for VARs and ASPs dealing with drives under warranty.
“They needed to be able to take care of their customer but without having the drive's warranty come void or missing the turn time requirement that they had,” Johnson says. “The portal will ensure that the warranty stays in tact and that the drive will still be accepted back by the manufacturer.”
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