DataXoom, a value-added wholesaler of mobile data services, launched a new partner program for referral and sales partners. The DataXoom Mobility Partner Program opens up channel partnerships to OEMs, software companies focused on the mobile workforce, distributors of mobile devices, such as iPads, Internet-ready laptops and ruggedized mobile devices, and, to a lesser extent, telecom expense management (TEM) companies.
DataXoom, which launched in 2012, partners with leading mobile operators in the United States, including AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, and purchases mobile data from these companies on a wholesale basis. The company offers businesses a choice of networks and mobile devices as well as data pricing options with no annual contracts or penalty fees. Clients can buy pay-as-you-go data bundles, or buy a large pool of mobile data to meet their business requirements.
New channel partners will be able to integrate DataXoom 4G and LTE connectivity into their businesses, and offer products with flexible data plans to suit their customers’ needs. DataXoom will offer referral and sales partners discount tiers based on their overall DataXoom revenue generated. With the new program, DataXoom expects to drive growth in midmarket and enterprise accounts in the United States.
“Volume discounts off of our already-low wholesale rates start at 2.5 percent, and can increase to as high as 20 percent with significant partner sales volume,” said Rob Chamberlin, DataXoom co-founder and executive vice president of sales.
The channel program will enable partners to deliver an integrated solution—hardware, mobile apps and connectivity—to their customers with better margins. A wide range of tools also are available to optimize a company’s data use. Advanced controls include usage alerts and limits, wireless usage monitoring and controls and telecom expense management features.
“We’ve started to see some great interest from large equipment distributors,” said Chamberlin. “They are selling tablets and other devices, and sometimes their margins are very thin. They are very interested in providing a bundled solution to their customers, taking an iPad and bundling it with a business-centric app that might be required by an enterprise doing an implementation and then having connectivity included as well.”
OEMs also are key targets for bundled solutions. “There are a number of companies that sell ruggedized tablets or laptops for use in challenging work environments. If they are able to bundle their solution to an enterprise and include connectivity as part of the suite of offerings, it is a more compelling offering to their customer as a one-stop shop,” Chamberlin said.
“In a bundled solution for an OEM, they might end up having a managed service component that would include wireless connectivity and ongoing maintenance and support. That model is a lot more interesting than distributing the device and getting a margin. All of these companies want service revenue and ongoing maintenance fees,” said Chamberlin.
DataXoom also offers white-label opportunities, which OEMs, distributors and independent software vendors (ISVs) would be quite interested in, he added.
Gina Roos, a Channel Insider contributor, focuses on technology and the channel.