ServiceKey Angela Vines

First, a little background: Who exactly is ServiceKey? Founded in 2003, the company positions itself as an is an independent service and maintenance organization (ISMO) and a Master MSP. As a master ISMO, ServiceKey offers IT maintenance and support services to resellers, independent software vendors, OEMs and leasing companies throughout North America, ServiceKey says.

Growth Mode

So far, the business model seems to be treating ServiceKey and its partners well. For 2010, ServiceKey’s revenues will grow roughly 25 percent, and the company is forecasting continued growth in 2011, according to Angela Vines, co-founder and VP of ServiceKey.

To generate that growth, ServiceKey is focusing on multiple hardware, software and services markets — including the Sun reseller base. The reason: Sun’s legacy partner program essentially ends in mid-October, and the Sun partner web site shuts down on October 16.

On the one hand, Oracle is assuring Sun legacy partners that they can join the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized program. But on the other hand, some skeptics worry that Oracle’s own sales force will take roughly 4,000 large accounts direct. And some folks worry Sun customer maintenance revenues will flow mainly to Oracle rather than to Sun partners.

Paths Forward

Oracle is expected to outline key opportunities for Sun partners during OpenWorld (Sept. 19-23, San Francisco). Meanwhile, ServiceKey is offering former Sun partners an alternative path forward.

The simple pitch: Partner up with ServiceKey and continue to earn maintenance revenues from your legacy Sun customer base. After a VAR partners up with ServiceKey, the VAR selects which services to extend to their end-customers. Next, the VAR selects the markup to charge. Finally, ServiceKey provides a single point of contact to support the end-customers — using the VAR’s brand.

When talking about the Sun partner base, ServiceKey’s Vines is careful not to criticize Oracle. But she does offer this key point: ServiceKey doesn’t compete with its partners in any way.

Multiple Options

Meanwhile, ServiceKey focuses on multiple partner opportunities outside of the Sun channel. The company in May 2010 announced an alternative channel-centric service for EMC partners. And ServiceKey has similar efforts in place for the Brocade, Compaq, Cisco, HP and IBM service channels, among others.

So what’s next for ServiceKey? Vines doesn’t go into deep details but she offers this clue: As the traditional telecom and VoIP markets continue to converge, there may be an opportunity for ServiceKey to further assist channel partners. The VAR Guy suspects Vines will have more to share on that effort in late 2010 or early 2011.

In the meantime, ServiceKey continues to open its arms wide to Sun resellers.

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