Multiple Channel Elite Award winner KineticD of Toronto is expanding its footprint in the U.S. by opening a data centre in Texas.
The 10-year old company recently entered into an OEM partnership with a one of the top PC vendors, which spurred the decision to move down south. Company CEO Jamie Brenzel was not at liberty to name the PC vendor, but said that it has a recognized brand worldwide.
The new data centre will be run by Troy Cheeseman, KineticD’s new vice president of data centre operations for both Canada and the U.S. Cheeseman spent the last 12 years with the CITI Technology and Infrastructure Group. The new data centre will target small to mid-size customers in both markets and Canadian customers will be given the option to choose where their data resides on a per account basis.
“This is a big expansion for us because we are retooling for growth. A big part of the plan is our white labeled SaaS service that provides a managed service offering under any brand and this strategy has really resonated in the marketplace,” Brenzel said.
He added that the OEM partnership can even lead KineticD to more markets in Europe and Asia. Brenzel believes that if this expansion goes according to plan that KineticD can turn itself from a $5 to $10 million operation into a $10 to $50 million company.
Another aspect of the new U.S. data centre is that it will enable KineticD to increase service to its U.S.-based customers. Brenzel said that approximately 50 per cent of its customer base resides in the U.S.
“For us we differentiate ourselves as a pure SaaS solution that multi-tenant. This allows partners and customer to do what they do best and let us deliver the solution and do all the heavy lifting in data management and storage off-site,” Brenzel said.
One of the keys to KineticD’s business model is its automation process. Brenzel said that the company’s focus is to automate first and develop a solution that can scale as opposed to using human capital. KineticD’s offerings enable customers to move to an Opex cost model from a Capex one. He says that this approach has worked well with SMBs because they do not have IT personnel and do not have to deal with legacy equipment issues.
The company is also in channel partner recruitment mode. They currently sport more than 1,400 channel partners in Canada and the U.S. Brenzel said that KineticD allows solution providers to have their own automated microsite as a sales tool and that margin potential ranges from 20 per cent to 50 per cent.
The branded microsite program includes:
- A dedicated link that can be integrated into the reseller’s Web site, providing access to sales tools, marketing information, success stories and product features;
- A secure sign up portal and personal ID number that immediately credits the reseller’s account;
- A dedicated subdomain that features the reseller’s logo at the top of every page;
- “Call Us” and “Email Us” links posted on each page lead directly to the reseller’s contact page and email address respectively, providing the reseller’s customers with access to content;
- Safe checkout process that is SSL-certified and McAfee secured; and
- Microsite is fully hosted by KineticD and is a free service to participating resellers.