CharTec Academy: Team Effort Behind Success

In an IT community known for its collaboration and integration, it's no secret that CharTec's academy includes presentations from several of its vendor partners, including Doyenz, MSP Leads, new partner Level Platforms, and long-time collaborator Reflexion. I had the chance to chat with two of those vendors, and learn a bit more about where they fit into the CharTec offering.

Ashutosh Tiwary, cofounder and CEO of Doyenz, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) disaster recovery vendor, explained that Doyenz, which on the surface may appear to be a backup and disaster recovery (BDR) rival to CharTec, is actually a solution that supports the CharTec BDR offering in two ways. "We have very synergistic business models because CharTec is about HaaS, we're about SaaS, and neither of us wanted to do the other," he explains. What Doyenz provides to CharTec partners is the software layer that enables the CharTec on-premise BDR appliance to replicate and virtualize in the cloud. Additionally, if a CharTec partner has a need for a cloud-only archival solution, Doyenz can handle that as well. "CharTec understood the complications that come with cloud infrastructure, and that is something they choose to leave to us," says Tiwary.

While the value to CharTec partners is clear, Tiwary stressed that Doyenz, and other vendor partners attending CharTec academies held monthly throughout the year, see huge value in their partnership with CharTec. "CharTec partners are more committed; they have embraced becoming an MSP," explains Tiwary. "Plus, Alex has already done the heavy lifting, educating them on the recurring revenue model. That lowers the barrier to entry for us, and we can spend less time educating and more time talking about our value."

Another vendor in attendance has the unusual perspective of being both a CharTec partner and a vendor partner. Chris Wiser, CEO of MSP TechSquad was on hand at this academy not as a partner, but rather to present as the president of MSPLeads, a telemarketing company that specializes in calls and appointment setting for MSPs. Wiser says he got the idea after realizing how many of his colleagues in CharTec had no plan for marketing, and no bandwidth for lead gen.

Wiser, whose company dials for ARRC Technologies, says he tries to really talk with CharTec partners about marketing and building a marketing system inside their business. What he finds is that most are "binge marketing" – marketing sporadically when leads are down and then stopping the minute business picks up. Instead of that haphazard approach, MSPLeads helps its clients build an integrated program on a 90-day cycle. As part of that, MSPLeads offers a 24-appointment campaign over those three months, with those leads/appointments guaranteed. The only thing the partner has to do is follow up, and deliver their value.

You'll be hearing more about MSPLeads as CharTec unveils its new four-prong marketing offering, C4, in the next few weeks. MSPLeads will be providing the dialing portion of that offering, which partners can use in place of an internal marketing and lead gen person or team.