Partners: Cirrity's 'Channel Only' Model Is Paying Off In Big Cloud Sales Gains

Strategic service providers say cloud service provider Cirrity's "channel only" model is helping them drive big recurring revenue sales gains.

Insight Technologies Inc, a Grand Forks, N.D.-based solution provider, has powered a 19-percent sales gain in cloud service sales over the last year and expects to at least match that number again this year thanks to Cirrity's channel commitment and enablement, said Brian Burkett, COO of Insight.

"Their people and their commitment to make us successful has made all the difference," said Burkett, whose company has partnered with Cirrity on Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS), Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). "Knowing their team is standing behind us has given us the confidence to sell cloud services."

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Insight Technologies is one of several solution providers that have credited Cirrity with helping them drive a recurring revenue cloud services transformation with sales training, technical talent and sales execution. "We know, with their team behind us, we will be successful with our clients," said Burkett. "It starts with helping us design a solution, then provisioning it and then supporting that solution."

Ron Dupler, CEO of GreenPages Technology Solutions, a prominent national cloud solution provider headquartered in Kittery, Maine, said Cirrity is one of the key "strategic" partners helping his company drive double-digit sales growth in cloud services.

"They are helping us innovate and drive our cloud services strategy," said Dupler, whose company has teamed with Cirrity to deliver hybrid cloud services on Cisco's Intercloud fabric software. "They are a very innovative company. They move quickly and seize the day with new opportunities."

Cirrity co-founder and CEO Dr. Steven Vicinanza , who founded and built BlueWave Computing of Atlanta into one of the country's top managed service providers (MSPs), has created a "channel only" model that differentiates Cirrity from scores of other service providers, said solution providers.

"They have channel DNA," said Dupler. "Cirrity was founded by somebody who was a VAR. He knows the channel and the channel psychology. That has helped Cirrity a lot."

Dupler praised Cirrity for working hand in hand with GreenPages, No. 159 on the CRN Solution Provider 500, to craft innovative and flexible cloud solutions for customers. "The bigger companies can't move as quickly as Cirrity," he said. "We have direct access to the CEO,CTO and their CMO. We are collaborating directly with the executive team. That drives velocity. They are doing some really cool stuff."

Chris Ward, chief technology officer at GreenPages' LogicsOne unit, said Cirrity's top-notch technical talent is working hand in hand with GreenPages' managed services team in complex on-premise/cloud environments.

The first-line support comes into GreenPages with a direct "escalation path" to Cirrity, said Ward. "We have really tight integration with Cirrity, so if there is a problem they are working with us rather than just pointing fingers," he says. "That's a huge, huge thing. I have run into situations multiple times where other service providers have made it tough from a trouble shooting standpoint."

Paul Whalley, the vice president of the VAR Division for Whalley Computer Associates, Inc., (Southwick, Mass.) No. 183 on the CRN Solution Provider 500, said Cirrity recently helped his company close its biggest-ever cloud deal. "That has got a lot of attention from our sales guys," he says. "They now see cloud as another arrow in their quiver. What we like about Cirrity is it is a 100-percent VAR-centric model."

Whalley praised Cirrity for making a significant investment in sales and technical training to get the Whalley Computer Associates team up to speed on cloud services. "They have an exceptional training program," he said. "They have been willing to partner with us and help us with the cloud transition."