MSPs and Symantec: Partners in Success

Our digital life today is blurring the line between work and personal time. This can make us more productive, improving our connectivity wherever we go. But at the same time, individuals and organizations – and even nations – need to keep this digital life safe from today’s threats. Symantec is committed to enabling this protection through two avenues: improving our current products and services, and developing new solutions to better address needs that are not being adequately met today.

MSPs serve as a valuable link in the chain between Symantec and businesses, because they are able to work closely with customers to understand their needs, providing products and services that allow customers to focus on running their business.  So what can vendors do today in order to support MSPs and their business?

Vendor Needs

First and foremost, vendors need to provide the right solutions to partners, who are driven to grow their business just as any other organization would be. We understand that partners require as broad a range of products and services that are available to them in order to expand their portfolio, particularly in technology market segments where deployments are increasing at a rapid pace, like mobility and the cloud.

Secondly, the vendor must provide the right support for the partner community, including training and other tools (online resources, etc.) that will assist partners in making the appropriate product and service recommendations to their customers. And with the depth of expertise that MSPs provide, they need access to higher-level support than a regular end user does — in order to successfully integrate and configure products for their customers — and will partner with vendors who can deliver this support quickly and effectively.

Symantec’s Response

We are cognizant of MSPs’ evolving needs, especially as their customers adopt new technology in order to augment their business strategy and look to their MSP for guidance and support. Symantec’s response is simple —  we will continue to build on and strengthen our relationship with the partner community. We are improving our current products to expand their capabilities and enable support for on-premise and mobile devices, as well as traditional computing and cloud platforms. We are also simplifying customer management for our partners, delivering greater visibility into deployments. This allows partners to manage multiple customers from a single console in any location with an internet connection, and even handle complex cloud deployments from their own office. Interoperability is also a key goal for us, developing best-in-breed solutions that complement each other rather than producing singular point products that struggle with compatibility.

For MSPs, we are implementing an escalated support program to provide more direct access to technicians, reducing wait times and eliminating the need to walk through and repeat basic troubleshooting tasks that they had previously completed. We are also saving partners time with our new monthly subscription program, no longer requiring them to manage renewals and enabling them to quickly add customers.

Symantec is more committed to our partners than ever before. And as we move forward with our resources focused on what matters – serving the needs of our customers by keeping their information safe – we anticipate significant growth opportunities within the channel. Working together, Symantec and the MSP community can continue to enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship while delivering the best products and services in the industry.

Stephen Banbury is Vice President of Worldwide MSP at Symantec Corp. Monthly guest blogs such as this one are part of MSPmentor’s annual platinum sponsorship.