technologyreseller.co.uk 31 MANAGED SERVICES And it has plans to add three more over the next 12 months. While Synaxon is looking forward to expanding its managed services offering, it is very specific about the type of service it wants to offer its customers. “We do managed services with a very particular twist,” explains Rex. “We call ourselves a master MSP because we are a managed service provider for MSPs. We don't offer anything for the end customer. We don't interact with the end customers. Our users are MSPs.” Rex adds that Synaxon’s commitment never to interact with end user customers means that it has no interest in providing outsourced IT services, for example. “What we will not do is become the outsourced helpdesk, because we never interact with customers. Providing outsourced helpdesk services is a completely different business model. You chop off that whole part of your business and give it to somebody else, which means you are handing over customer access. A lot of IT providers and MSPs are very wary of handing over the keys to the kingdom to a third party, which is why we make it very clear that everything you do that is customer-facing you will have to do yourself. We are for those IT providers who want to retain ownership of the customer relationship but want help in other areas.” Synaxon’s experience in Germany suggests that there is a broad spectrum of MSPs that fit into this category, from one customer with 80 to 85 employees that was unable to provide a service when three technicians left in rapid succession to one-man bands wanting to offer a basic B2C anti-virus service. As the skills shortage continues to cause problems for UK service providers, and as demand for managed services increases, Synaxon may find that there is a rapid take-up for its managed services offering in the UK as well as Germany. synaxon-services.com catalogues, we provide you with service descriptions. All are basically ready to roll and you can edit them to your heart's content. We take the fear out of stepping into an unknown legal environment that wasn’t a consideration when all you did was transactional business.” Synaxon already offers six managed services (seven in Germany, where it also offers an email archiving service to meet a specifically German legal requirement to archive all tax-related communications). These are: n Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM); n Managed Anti-virus – a bare bones anti-virus service; n Managed Endpoint Protection – fullscale endpoint protection with all bells and whistles and different editions; n Managed Backup; n Managed Office – helping partners to stop selling Micosoft Office box licences and embrace the Microsoft CSP world; and n Managed Workplace – a new rental service that enables partners to combine hardware, software, support and Synaxon managed services into a single offer available for a monthly subscription with no upfront investment. Growing appeal The launch of Synaxon’s managed services business in the UK is part of a broader evolution of the company’s offering on this side of the channel. Launched in the UK in 2008 as a dealer group that used its buying power to negotiate decent terms and condition for members, Synaxon has over the last two years evolved into more of a channel services organisation for resellers, MSPs, retailers, web stores and office products dealers. Today its offering is built on three main pillars: 1 EGIS (Enterprise Global Information System) – an electronic procurement platform giving subscribers access to the product portfolios of 40 distributors, with full transparency on availability and delivery times, an online quote generator and online ordering; 2 Synaxon Hub – Synaxon’s own distribution business, previously known as Synaxon Distribution, featuring next-day deliveries from a dedicated UK warehouse and relationships with leading vendors, including APC, Acer, Dell, HP, HPE, Lenovo and Microsoft, plus dedicated support for resellers’ infrastructure projects; and 3 Synaxon Managed Services – technology, tools and support to help transactional businesses move into the managed services space. Mike Barron, Managing Director of SYNAXON UK, says that Synaxon currently works with 469 partners in the UK, mainly smaller resellers drawn from what he calls ‘the long tail of the channel’. “Partners use different aspects of our services. For example, we’ve probably got a couple of 100 people using EGIS on a regular basis and we want to double that number in the latter stages of this year and in 2023,” he says. Barron adds that Synaxon aims to provide small resellers with competitive pricing and a higher level of service than they might be used to from distributors and other channel services organisations. “What sets us apart is that we are very flexible on credit terms, we give credits more readily. We have enhanced RMA periods as well. So we will take an RMA on our own terms rather than the manufacturer’s or the distributor’s. And of course we've got competitive pricing, not best pricing but competitive pricing, due to the fact that we've got that electronic connection. And we also offer free carriage from a very low threshold through our EGIS procurement platform.” Mike Barron
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