Abiquo Arms MSPs With Cloud Computing Services On-Ramp

Redwood City, Calif.-based Abiquo is teaming with MSPexcellence to launch the Cloud Accelerator Program to quickly get MSP partners and hosting providers up and selling managed cloud computing services.

Pete Malcolm, Abiquo CEO, said the Cloud Accelerator go-to-market program is built around Abiquo's cloud management platform and aimed at partners that need a push to help them package, document, market, offering training, price and ultimately sell cloud computing services.

"It helps them get a quick launch out to the market," he said.

Abiquo offers what it calls a "virtual enterprise," which goes behind a Web hosting or hosted server environment which customers can use and configure like a physical data center but with no hardware to maintain. MSPs can offer management and deployment of these virtual enterprises for their customers.

"For an MSP, it takes the human piece out of it," Malcolm said. Using a single management pane MSPs can manage several data centers for their clients.

Additionally, Abiquo is offering MSPs their management offering for free when they sign up and buy an initial system.

As part of the Cloud Accelerator Program Abiquo will leverage MSPexcellence's business acceleration capabilities while to engage MSPs with sales and marketing strategies, best practices and ready-to-use tools and templates.

The first phase will include a series of Webinars to introduce MSP partners to the market, the technology and the elements of a go-to-market plan, Malcolm said. Abiquo partners will receive a resource kit to help them predictably grow and profitably operate their managed cloud services business.

Using Abiquo's offerings, MSPs can build out a portfolio of cloud computing services to add more heft to their traditional managed services offerings. MSPs can offer managed Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and cloud-based applications while also adding services on top of public cloud offerings.

Malcolm said Abiquo is already working with more than 20 MSPs. The Cloud Accelerator program is designed to bring more into the fold and train and educate them to give them a quick ramp to the cloud. Late last year, Abiquo raised about $10 million in Series B funding to build out its global sales and marketing efforts, customer support and senior team.

"We see a tremendous opportunity for the MSP community to add value to cloud services -- it's really a perfect marriage," Todd Hussey, partner and co-founder of MSPexcellence, said in a statement.