IndependenceIT Partners With EarthLink, Leads Solution Providers To The Cloud

Cloud provider independenceIT announced Tuesday at XChange Solution Provider 2012 a new partnership with managed IT services and communications provider EarthLink. As part of the newly-formed alliance, EarthLink will be adding independenceIT’s cloud workplace solutions to its IT services portfolio.

Specifically, EarthLink will be broadening its offerings to include independenceIT’s Total Freedom Workspace and Instance Freedom Workspace technologies, both of which allow enterprise users to securely access business applications for anywhere, anytime, and on any device.

EarthLink will roll out an additional desktop workspace service that leverages these cloud solutions side-by-side with the managed virtualization, security, application and support services it already delivers.

The new partnership will also afford independenceIT enhanced security and application support delivered through the Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service offering and IT Data Center Services offered by EarthLink.

“We’ve worked with them [EarthLink] on an application layer and from a technology standpoint, there are a lot of neat advancements,” Seth Bostock, executive vice president of Business Development and Strategy at independenceIT, told CRN at XChange. “We are really going to be able to drive a lot of business for them, and we’re consuming their infrastructure.”

As cloud providers such as independenceIT continue to expand their offerings, and the end users rely on off-premise computing models more and more, Bostock pointed out a growing need for solution providers to get on board with the cloud. Because if they don’t, he said, it’s inevitable that a competitor will.

“It used to just be about selling a box,” Bostock said of the channel. But now, he said, there’s been a fundamental shift in how end users prefers to consume information, and it’s the cloud -- along with mobile devices including tablets and smartphones -- that are supporting that shift.

To support their channel partners’ journey to the cloud, independenceIT prides itself in a very hands-on approach.

Bostock feels strongly that his company’s partners should continue to focus on their core set of service competencies -- even if they fall outside of the cloud computing space -- and rely on independenceIT to help fill that knowledge gap for them. With more than a decade of cloud services under their belt, independenceIT is ready to fully back its partners in the space, enabling them to transition as quickly as possible, without losing focus on their enrooted skillsets.

“We say to the channel, ‘we’re going to give you all the tools you need and will stand behind you. Focus on your business core competencies, and let us do what we do,’” he said.

The company does this by providing sales and technical training, so reseller partners can focus on maintaining their client relationship and providing administrative support and services. It has also created customized solutions for 24x7 technical support, and arms its partners with its Freedom Cloud Control Panel to manage services remotely.

Bostock said that independenceIT -- which sells 100 percent through the channel -- not only aids partners in making sales, but in transforming their businesses. In a way, he said, independenceIT acts a general business resource for its solution providers, just as much as a technical one.

“We’re going to focus immensely on them [partners],” he told CRN. “And always make sure that they’re successful.”