Excel Micro: Partnering with Google on SaaS Distribution

By samdizzy

Cloud computing and SaaS were supposed to put the squeeze on technology distributors. But Excel Micro, a modern-day distributor, seems to be thriving. The reason? Excel Micro distributes Google Apps and Google’s SaaS-centric security software to VARs and resellers. And the results sound quite impressive, if you listen to Michael Amadio, director of marketing at Excel Micro.

In a TalkinCloud FastChat Video, Amadio describes how Excel Micro started out as a traditional IT reseller in the 1990s. But gradually by the late 1990s, Excel Micro pushed into hosted email security — long before the cloud became the hottest term in high-tech. Along the way, Excel Micro struck up a relationship with Postini, the email security company that Google ultimately gobbled up in 2007.

So far so good for Excel Micro. Amadio says the company now serves 3,500 resellers and the Excel Micro business spans more than 1 million end-user licenses sold. Moreover, he sees Google remaining committed to channel partners even as Google shifts the CEO title from Eric Schmidt to Larry Page.

Amadio certainly sounds upbeat. But we can’t ignore the fact that some VARs and MSPs worry about shrinking SaaS prices, especially as Google Apps and Microsoft Office 365 (the forthcoming successor to Business Productivity Online Suite) prepare for combat later this year. Still, the Google Apps Reseller team is promoting a six-pillar strategy for channel partners that want to push beyond basic SaaS revenues.

For its part, Excel Micro continues to march ahead — promoting a partner portal and other tools to further engage VARs and MSPs that want to profit from the cloud.

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