Alura Business Solutions

Alura Business Solutions’ diligent approach to IT management pays off after switching to Barracuda MSP’s Managed Backup Services and eliminating backup errors and labor costs.

Most VARs and MSPs recognize that expanding their services offering is a smart and necessary way to achieve new growth. But the bigger your partner pool, the greater the management responsibility, which some IT solution providers aren’t prepared to handle. The problem with growing your IT vendor roster unchecked is the increased risk that a quality problem will undermine customer confidence in your services.

Managed services provider Alura Business Solutions is one company that’s not afraid to look elsewhere for a better solution. In fact, last year the MSP dropped its cloud BDR (backup and disaster recovery) vendor after experiencing ongoing backup issues, switching to Barracuda Intronis Backup - MSP. Now, Alura is able to focus on taking care of its customers rather than worrying about technology, and it’s realized the value in a complementary premium cloud offering — Bararcuda MSP Managed Backup Services.

Lost Revenue Sparks Search for a New BDR Provider

Ryan Rosenkaimer, VP of Alura Business Solutions, recalls the events that led the company to walk away from their previous BDR vendor. “On a daily basis we had problems with their product, including receiving backup failure notices, having to reboot customers’ machines, and requiring our technicians to reinstall agents on customers’ machines. Plus, the previous product used a basic agent, which gave us limited visibility into problems, and limited remote management capabilities. I would estimate that on average, 25 percent of our BDR installed base was causing us problems.”

With approximately 125 customers and more than 2,500 end points under management, Rosenkaimer says that the time spent resolving backup-related issues cost his company four hours in lost labor every day, which translates to between $6,000 and $8,000 per month in lost revenue opportunities. “It makes for a hectic work environment and can jeopardize customers’ trust,” he says.

Research, Testing Leads to Partnership with Barracuda MSP

Alura prefers to re-brand the products it resells to show customers it stands behind its offerings, one more reason the MSP needed to do its due diligence before moving to a new BDR provider.

After testing several BDR solutions in its development lab, the Alura team declared Barracuda MSP the clear winner. “In addition to the reliability factor of Barracuda Intronis Backup - MSP, there were several other reasons that gave them an edge over the competition, including the financial health of the company, their fixed-fee storage pricing per SMB account, and their support.”

Complement Cloud BDR with Managed Backup Services

Shortly after signing up to be an Barracuda Intronis Backup - MSP reseller, Alura heard about a complementary service offering by Barracuda MSP called Managed Backup Services. “This service has shifted the burden of managing our customers’ backups from our technicians to Barracuda MSP,” says Rosenkaimer. “At a small fraction of the cost we were paying our technicians to manage backups with our previous solution, we’ve been able to use Managed Backup. In addition to freeing up our technicians’ time to focus on billable activities, we have peace of mind that backups are working.”

Alura continually evaluates all of its vendor partners to ensure each contributes to the MSP’s success. Alura’s President, Jason Derstine, has said that he looks at competitive offerings and is not afraid to break ties with a vendor whose products or services aren’t up to par. The MSP is confident that Barracuda MSP is going to be a long-term leader in the BDR space and a long-term partner of Alura’s because of the way Barracuda MSP attends to its partners.

“Our account managers keep us updated with product development and data processes, and they consult with us on a regular basis to find out how they can help us meet our customers’ business challenges,” says Rosenkaimer. “Based on the company’s performance and product development so far, we couldn’t ask for anything more from a vendor partner.”