Private cloud startup ZeroStack Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., has launched its first global partner program. Open for application immediately, the new program enables channel pros to build a practice selling pre-assembled private cloud environments based on the OpenStack platform without first acquiring OpenStack skills.
To date, the difficulties of implementing and administering OpenStack have kept it from making significant headway among SMBs, according to Sean Cardenas (pictured), ZeroStack’s vice president of sales and operations.
“The ongoing management effort comes at a high price tag,” he says.
Overcoming challenges like that is at the core of ZeroStack’s product strategy. The company, which exited stealth mode last summer, makes a complete OpenStack private cloud implementation built around hyperconverged 2U appliances equipped with end-to-end compute, storage, and software-defined networking resources. Installing a base deployment of the solution takes as little as 45 minutes and requires no OpenStack expertise.
“We’ve taken all of that headache out of deploying an OpenStack-based cloud,” Cardenas says, adding that partners can scale a ZeroStack environment just as easily by tacking on more appliances.
The solution also includes a cloud-based management portal that automatically handles basic administrative tasks like applying patches and is equipped with predictive analytics capabilities, to detect and remediate technical problems before they occur.
“All of that happens in our cloud portal and eliminates the need for an end user to be constantly monitoring and patching [and] updating their OpenStack environment,” Cardenas says.
There’s also a built-in app store stocked with templates for popular cloud development platforms like Puppet, MySQL, and Hadoop. ZeroStack expands the app catalog roughly every two weeks, and users can add their own apps for internal distribution as well.
ZeroStack customers must make a one-time payment for each appliance they utilize and buy a subscription for at least one year of ZeroStack’s software and backend support. Both fees are payable in advance. Cardenas declined to specify pricing for the ZeroStack solution, but said an entry-level deployment including both hardware and a subscription typically costs well less than $100,000.
According to Cardenas, keeping its prices out of public view is part of how ZeroStack helps its channel control margins on the solution. The company will also adjust those rates if needed to help partners close deals.
“We’ve been working actively with the partners to ensure that we protect their margins at the expense of ours,” Cardenas says. Partners also have access to a deal registration system and training resources.
Though ZeroStack’s new partner program is open to anyone, Cardenas says the company is targeting local to regional resellers rather than larger firms that offer less personalized customer service.
“Our focus in the channel is on those partners that have a consultative approach to their customers,” Cardenas states. “That typically does not include the very large box pushers in the market.”
ZeroStack will also limit the geographic concentration of its channel. “We are cognizant of the fact that we don’t need 50 partners in one metro area,” Cardenas says. “I would [rather] see fewer partners do more deals than more partners do fewer deals.”
At present, ZeroStack sells its solution entirely through the channel, and Cardenas expects that to remain the case unless market conditions evolve in a significant and unexpected way.
“We are a hundred percent committed to driving our business through the channel and leveraging the channel as an extension of the sales force,” he says. “I don’t see any need to diverge from that.”
