Breakthrough Technology Group Offers Cloud Partner Program

IT and telecommunications solution provider Breakthrough Technology Group (BTG) launched a private cloud partner program aimed at enabling consultants, systems integrators, solutions providers, resellers and agents to offer cloud solutions and services to enterprise, midmarket and smaller customers. The program is BTG’s first formal targeted program for partners.

The BTG Private Cloud Solutions offering provides a single monitoring platform, help desk and portal for all services delivered over multiple AT&T SSAE16 Certified Data Centers. The offering includes optional dedicated software-as-a-service- (SaaS-) based managed capabilities that can be customized to meet business and audit requirements. Services include managed virtual machines, managed applications, dedicated messaging services and hosted virtual desktops.

Launched in 2005 as a solution provider selling telecom services to customers across the globe, BTG realized at the same time that there was a need in the marketplace to provide its clients with a private cloud solution, particularly in the midmarket, said Jeff Kaplan, CEO and founder.

“We put everything in place to help a partner be successful. We have a partner portal and all the toolsets, deal registration and collateral, as well as partner managers,” he added.

The partner program is segmented into two levels: advisor or referral, and reseller, which is available in two flavors. Under the advisor model, partners qualify a customer and introduce the customer to BTG.

The company directly contracts and supports the customer, and the partner receives a percentage of recurring revenues every month. Once a registered partner achieves a certain level of sales, they become a gold-level partner and receive additional benefits, such as more technical support and go-to-market resources.

The reseller model is available for “billing only” and white-label relationships. In the billing-only reseller model, BTG performs all work, including support responsibilities as BTG, and provides a wholesale price to the partner who then adds a margin and bills the customer directly

Under the white-label reseller model, BTG provides everything from the support portal to answering phones branded as the partner. The partner receives a wholesale rate and bills their customers directly. This requires a minimum revenue commitment and up-front fees for the white-label effort.

The program provides a path for systems integrators and technology consultants to launch a managed-services solution and enables consultants to augment their capabilities with cloud-based services, Kaplan said. “We feel there is a bigger need in the market, especially in the consultant space, which is more project-based work, for them to get a reliable cloud-based partner.”

The program also provides software and hardware resellers with a way to deliver a hosted or cloud solution, he added.

The reseller model targets a partner that doesn’t have a cloud offer today and “doesn’t have the stomach or capital to build it, and doesn’t want to go down the acquisition route until they know it’s successful. This allows them to get into the door quickly and hit the ground running,” Kaplan said. “But we have to know that we have a strategic partnership and that there is a revenue commitment. Within 30 to 45 days, they have a hosted private cloud offer in the marketplace.”

Large hardware or software resellers—VARs—could take a large hit if their revenue shrinks in terms of pure hardware and software resale in the midmarket and below, Kaplan said. VARs as well as vendors, including storage, router or server providers, have to think about how to drive to a recurring revenue model that is predictable for them, he added.

Today, BTG’s private cloud portfolio is its core business and is growing significantly year-over-year. Kaplan expects its private cloud business to account for 90 percent of the company’s revenues by the end of 2015.

Gina Roos, a Channel Insider contributor, focuses on technology and the channel.