The White Label VAR

C.J. Ezell, president of The ASI Group, a fast-growing VAR that uses the tagline "Powering Digital Healthcare," has given his business a makeover that is a model for solution providers of all stripes. First off, Ezell said bye-bye to his entire break/fix business four years ago in order to specialize solely on the health-care market. That move had his employees thinking he was "nuts." In fact, Ezell's lead technician quit and started his own break/fix business that captured many of the 150 customers that ASI Group was serving.

	STEVEN BURKE
Can be reached via e-mail at sburke@everythingchannel.com.

Besides focusing on health care, Ezell made an all-out commitment to increase recurring revenue and brand his own company as the trusted source of all information technology for his health-care clients. That means white labeling products and services and putting his own brand in front of the client. The ASI Group, in fact, has branded its own suite of A-Safe Hosted solutions that includes online backup, online e-mail and online VoIP. The bulk of the business is in partnership with online backup provider Intronis, which has what Ezell calls an outstanding white label program for VARs. The white label effort is at the heart of The ASI Group's business. It is a trend that every vendor, large or small, would be wise to heed if they want to do business with the best and brightest in the channel.

It has paid huge dividends for The ASI Group. In 2004, the company was lucky to make 10 percent net margin on about $250,000 in break/fix business. Now, The ASI Group is on track to do about $1 million this year with net profits running from 25 to 30 percent. "None of this would have been possible if we didn't focus solely on health care," Ezell said.

Ezell has made his company a vertical market specialist and staked out a leading position in the emerging cloud computing market. In fact, Ezell has attempted to white label any other manner of products and services but has run into a brick wall with the likes of Google and Zoho. Both of those vendors could really put the whammy on Microsoft with a white label online productivity suite for VARs. "The problem is none of the big players in the cloud computing market have embraced the channel," Ezell said.

The time to offer white label programs for VARs is now. Those that do will thrive. Those that don't will drift away. No matter what happens, you can be sure that companies like The ASI Group—not an individual vendor—will be the trusted brand for their clients.

Are you a white label or white knuckle VAR? Let me know at sburke@everythingchannel.com.