Spam Soap, VirtualAdministrator: Cleaning Up Together?
Where does one managed service provider end, and another managed service provider begin? Before you answer, consider the situation at Spam Soap and VirtualAdministrator — two Master MSPs of sorts that are partnering up to reach VARs and peer MSPs.
Spam Soap focuses on doing one thing really well: Protecting email from spam, viruses and disasters. The company has signed up roughly 400 channel partners, and recently recruited Sage Software veteran Leonard DiMiceli as channel sales manager, according to Rob Leon, VP of operations at Spam Soap.
Rather than a traditional Master MSP — which typically mixes and matches numerous platforms — I guess Spam Soap is closer to a single purpose service provider whose customer base includes VARs and MSPs.
VirtualAdministrator, meanwhile, specializes in a range of hosted managed services for peer MSPs and VARs, including hosted Kaseya, Spam Soap, SonicWALL and Intronis for remote backup.
The two companies are cut from similar cloth:
- Spam Soap was started by Inhouse IT, a managed service provider in Costa Mesa, Calif.
- VirtualAdministrator was launched by Network Depot LLC, a solutions provider in Reston, Va.
Translation: Some VARs and integrators are growing up. And they’re maturing beyond the MSP stage, become Master MSPs and targeted service providers to peer VARs and MSPs.
I expect to see the Spam Soap and VirtualAdministrator teams hanging out together at SMB Nation Spring, a conference that runs May 1 through 3 in New Jersey. I’m curious to hear how and see how attendees react to their messages.
Key Challenges
I need to be careful not to hype the Master MSP model. Although some Master MSPs are thriving, I do sense that the Master MSP model faces multiple challenges.
Remember, most Master MSPs are privately held so it’s difficult for me to measure their financial success. And I’m starting to hear from Master MSPs who say it’s too expensive to recruit, train and retain VARs as customers. So in some areas, the Master MSP model might be breaking down.
How did Spam Soap attract 400 channel partners? What are they doing right, and where have they stumbled? I hope to ask Rob Leon those questions at the SMB Nation conference on May 1.
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SpamSoap will be doing more than hanging out with us at the SMB Nation event, Joe – actually they’re our featured vendor this time. So they’ll be parked, by design, at the VirtualAdministrator booth. While I’m happy to tell everyone the story of the transformation of Network Depot into the MSP On-ramp that we endeavor to be with Virtual Administrator, I would actually like to take this space to acknowledge the folks that birthed the company we’ll be sharing a booth with.
The people at InHouseIT have been “Go-Givers” since the earliest days. There are many “personalities” in the MSP world at this point, but the industry owes a debt to Steve Bender, Troy Hickerson, Chad, and many of the others who have made up the InHouseIT crew who’ve given way more to the MSP community than they’ll ever get credit for. The “Executive Summary Report” so many of us use started out as an Excel spreadsheet at InHouseIT and was created and then GIVEN AWAY. When we wanted to transform our company, they weren’t just helpful – they were advocates. We had the sense of them welcoming us into their home as guests and really nurturing us with best practices and recommended toolsets. It’s only natural that we return the favor to others, now. If you look at the people we partner with, you’ll notice one similarity – their ethics are top notch and their support and commitment is primary – they KNOW who they serve. I’m confident that this distinction will help us navigate the Master MSP waters successfully. Our job is to provide a leg up, or as we like to call it an “On-ramp” to the MSP world and while for others it may be chiefly a profit center, for us, it’s also a bit of a mission. We owe it to the people who gave us the opportunity to get this far. Thanks for the opportunity to respond.
Rich
P.S.
Anyone who’d like to tell me their story of how InHouseIT helped their business and didn’t ask for credit or acknowledgement, feel free to contact me at [email protected] – I’m sure we’re not the only ones.