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Tier 3 Cloud Channel Partner Program Counters Amazon
Tier 3, the cloud services provider, has launched a reseller partner program for VARs and MSPs that want to offer IaaS. Is this a timely alternative to Amazon Web Services, Windows Azure and other big public clouds?
May 8, 2013
2 Min Read
Tier 3 Founder Jared Wray: It's time for a channel-friendly cloud partner program.
By samdizzy
Tier 3, a cloud services provider, has launched a channel partner program for VARs, MSPs and resellers. Tier 3 says the cloud partner program positions resellers to generate recurring monthly revenues from Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and other related services. The company is also positioning itself as a channel-friendly alternative to big public clouds like Amazon Web Services (NYSE:AMZN). Here' why.
Tier 3 will further describe the cloud partner program during our next Channel Expert Hour webcast (May 9, 2pm ET/11am PT). VARs and MSPs will be welcome to submit questions during the webcast.
Key Details
According to a prepared statement from the company, the Tier 3 Cloud Reseller Edition is "a new collection of branding and administrative features designed for the channel." The offering "brings cloud infrastructure, platform services and advanced management functions together in a single reseller-ready platform that can be easily re-branded and customized by partners for global enterprise deployments."
To the best of my knowledge, channel partners can control branding, pricing and end-customer billing for the cloud services. The reseller program blanket 10 Tier 3 data centers around the world. Plus, so-called Blueprint capabilities allow partners to accelerate time to revenue with rapid deployment of complex cloud environments from a library of templates, Tier 3 claims.
The partner program, according to Tier 3, also features:
Account Management and Account Hierarchies. Partners can control, monitor, and bill for cloud usage across their customer base.
Advanced Integration. A library of APIs, single sign on (SSO) support via SAML, and reporting can be used to integrate Tier 3 with existing applications such as billing systems to ease partner and customer deployment.
Customizable Services and Locations. Partners can enable and disable both node locations and discrete cloud services for their customers.
Content Management. This allows partners to customize help resource URLs to match existing repositories, or easily configure links for new locations.
Email Templates. Resellers may adjust email notifications sent from the system to match their preferences and branding.
Cloud Management Portal Rebranding. Partners may easily alter the visual appearance of the Tier 3 web-based management interface to their own brand.
In a prepared statement, Tier 3 Founder Jared Wray took a thinly veiled shot at big public cloud providers — likely Amazon, Windows Azure and others — that sometimes trigger reseller concerns.
"Large public cloud providers aren’t always channel-friendly, and there is significant risk and complexity to developing a cloud from the ground up,” said Wray. “We built the Tier 3 Cloud Reseller Edition with the channel in mind. From simple white-labeling, to complex custom application development and hosting, Tier 3 helps partners play to their strengths with new cloud products.”
Early Tier 3 adopters include PEER 1 Hosting, which leverages Tier 3 for its Mission Critical Cloud.
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