60 MSPs Beta Test Kutenda Marketing Program

Roughly 60 managed service providers are beta testing Kutenda, an Internet marketing program that allows MSPs to offer Web site design, email marketing, search engine optimization and other marketing services to their end-customers. Kutenda co-founders Mike Cooch (CEO, Everon Technology Services) and Akash Saraf (CEO, Zenith Infotech) have updated me on their efforts. Here’s some perspective.

According to Cooch and Saraf, roughly 60 companies attended Kutenda’s live training in Denver last week and this week. “We were very over-subscribed for this program (we received nearly 1000 applicants), so we are thrilled with the response,” Cooch told me over email.

Kutenda plans to release its tool to additional applicants in an “open beta” starting in July 2009, and hopes to deliver a full production release in August 2009, Cooch adds.

Cooch and Saraf jointly announced Kutenda in April 2009. At the time, the duo said the Kutenda Internet Marketing Platform will help MSPs profit from:

• Web site design, development and analytics
• Email marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Search advertising management
• Local search optimization

Up to the Challenge?

Kutenda is attempting to address a tricky problem. Many MSPs don’t understand how to market and search engine optimize their own businesses. Yet, Kutenda will strive to help MSPs to offer marketing services to their customers.

That’s a big challenge, but Cooch understands marketing. His other company — Everon Technology Services — is a leading MSP that landed on the Inc. 5000 and MSPmentor 100 lists. Everon has successfully branded its services, and the Everon team runs a solid corporate blog to keep customers and partners focused on industry trends. And of course, Saraf runs Zenith Infotech, one of the most successful vendors in the MSP market.

We’ll see if Cooch and Saraf can repeat that success at Kutenda.

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