Internet security vendor Comodo is bringing its Geek Buddy solution to the channel to provide consumers with remote IT support for their PCs.
Melih Abdulhayaglu, the CEO of Comodo, founded the company 12 years ago. With its head office located in Jersey City, N.J., the company conducts its business worldwide using an indirect and direct sales model. Roughly 50 per cent of its overall sales go through channel partners.
With the release of its Geek Buddy desktop application solution next month, Abdulhayaglu said the company is making a big push into the Canadian retail and distribution channels. For $49.95 a year, Geek Buddy will support home users on up to three PCs. The solution is designed to provide remote PC “geek” support to consumers.
“We all have a geek we usually turn to whenever we have a problem with our computer,” Abdulhayaglu said. “Geek Buddy will provide all of this support 24/7, 365 days a year with the help of our Comodo technicians.”
Geek Buddy is a boxed product that will be sold through Canadian e-commerce Web sites, retail stores and through distributors Navarre Distribution and Ingram Micro. The target customers for this solution will be consumers in the home, Abdulhayaglu said. Later this year, the company also plans to release a business-oriented solution.
Once the desktop application is installed on the user’s PC, an icon will appear on the desktop. When a user clicks on it, they’re automatically connected to a live Comodo technician who will remotely help solve any IT related PC issue.
One of the selling points for Geek Buddy is that partners can choose to re-brand and sell the product as their own, or they can sell it under the Comodo name.
“Our technicians, who are the ‘geeks,’ will do everything for you, whether it’s installing your security software, managing it for you, online troubleshooting or setting up printers,” Abdulhayaglu said. “Users will be able to speak with a geek by phone, or they can connect with one through live chat. The geek will then help the user fix their problem remotely, right over the Internet.”
Robert Schaffer, managing director for global channels at Comodo, said since Geek Buddy will be offered through distribution, the types of partners Comodo’s looking for will vary.
The boxed solution is available as a one-year license with two and three-year offerings available online, Schaffer added. The only thing the partners can’t do at this time is provide their own remote IT support offerings to customers. However, he said the company is working to release a product in the “near future” called PC Support Manager, which is a software solution that enables partners to provide their own support services directly to the customer.
In addition to Geek Buddy, Comodo’s solutions offerings also include an anti-virus solution, an Internet security product, endpoint security, site seals and backup and restore.
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