Synnex Set To Deliver Software Licensing, Warranty Services Renewal Platform

Solution providers have struggled for decades with how to track lucrative software licensing and warranty services renewals.

A large percentage of those software licensing and warranty renewals, in fact, are never followed up on, leaving millions of dollars on the table for solution providers and vendors. And with the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) explosion there is even more cash being left on the table.

Synnex, the Greenville, S.C. distributor that is moving fast into high margin services, is about to change that with a breakthrough new services platform called RenewSolv which is scheduled to be launched in the summer.

RenewSolv is an online portal that solution providers can use to keep track of software licensing, warranty renewals, and subscription-based SaaS products from multiple vendors including Hewlett Packard, Symantec and Microsoft. Besides flagging any and all renewal opportunities on the horizon and giving partners the ability to instantly send renewal options for multiple products to customers, RenewSolv is set up to track all of a customer's hardware and software assets, opening the door for other sales opportunities.

"I think they have hit a home run with this," said Jeffrey Bohlig, COO and principal of Compar, a Minnetonka, Minn. solution provider and a member of Synnex's VARnex community which got a preview of the platform this month. "This is a big problem for customers. The issue is you have to go to so many different places to get this (software and warranty renewal) information and it is not always accurate. RenewSolv gives us one platform we can rely on."

RenewSolv, in fact, provides a single view of software licenses, hardware warranties and SaaS subscriptions that are up for renewal for customers grappling with a growing installed base of systems, servers and mobile devices and an increasing number of software licenses, warranty options and subscription offerings from vendors, said Bohlig. The warranty on servers and systems is becoming more critical as customers keep systems longer, he said.

Many solution providers rely on individual sales reps or keep spreadsheets and in some cases databases on software licenses, warranty renewals and SaaS subscriptions. That has opened the door for some renewals to fall through the cracks.

Next: A Better Way To Deliver Software Licensing, Warranty Renewals

"There is nothing worse than having a software license or a warranty on a product expire when the customer wanted to renew, but they weren't notified," said Bohlig. "This tool provides a single point of contact that gives us the ability to communicate with customers the way we want to communicate with them whether it is with e-mail, a letter, or an invoice. It gives us an ability to reach out to our customers and offer them more so we are providing better customer service. I love that."

Vendors, for their part, have also been frustrated with the software licensing and warranty renewal process and in recent years some have begun reaching out to customers directly causing angst among solution providers anxious to be the single point of contact for customers.

Bohlig said he is excited by the ability for Compar to customize software licensing and warranty marketing and sales efforts around the RenewSolv platform. "This lets us as business decide how we want to take these software license and warranty renewals to market," he said.

RenewSolv would not have been possible without a significant multimillion dollar investment on the part of Synnex. The distributor last November acquired two respected renewal platform companies: Aspire Technology Limited, a London-based maker of a SaaS renewal platform working with some 20,000 partners and Encover, a Mountain View, Calif. software renewal platform maker that managed $4 billion in service contracts.

"We have spent millions of dollars and believe both these companies are best of breed in the world for the technology they have to drive a renewals business," said Synnex CEO Kevin Murai. He calls RenewSolv a "game changer" that will forever change how solution providers and vendors handle software and warranty renewals.

Murai, in fact, believes that more solution providers will seek out Synnex as their primary source of product as a result of RenewSolv. That's because the software licensing and maintenance renewal client information will be instantly populated into the RenewSolv portal upon purchase from Synnex. What's more, Synnex plans to tightly integrate its cloud based platform, called OneIT, into RenewSolv. And over time, Synnex plans to add all its vendors to the platform.

"All things being equal buy all of your software and hardware from Synnex," Murai told VARs at the VARnex conference after the RenewSolv platform demonstration. "We are really investing in business tools that help you not only develop and enable your business but enhance your overall growth. This is the direction of Synnex. We want to be your most important partner"