How to become an MSP without a costly support backbone

An Australian provider has signed up as the local agent for Haladon, which offers white-label 24/7 support services and a Network Operations Centre (NOC) for resellers looking to pivot into managed services.

The Haladon solution is essentially a managed service being targeted at managed service providers (MSPs).

The newly crowned provider is Sydney-based outfit Outsource. As well as this distribution deal with Haladon, Outsource already has a footprint in the Australian channel providing marketing services to vendors, distributors and resellers as the parent of PR companies Recognition PR and WriteAway Communications.

Behind the scenes, Haladon provides an MSP's customers with level 1 and level 2 support services, from application support and general IT troubleshooting to password resets, patch management, and Active Directory adds, moves and changes.

Outsource director Adam Benson said he came across Haladon through local consultancy player Channel Dynamics. Partnering with Haladon was a logical addition to its marketing services. "We already talk to the channel though outsourced marketing service, so this is another thing we can offer that marketplace," said Benson.

Benson's company has dubbed the white-label product 'Service First'. It is aimed at resellers and system integrators struggling to build out the infrastructure to win managed services contracts. "Resellers want to go after a deal but say, 'It is too big for me – the client wants 24/7 helpdesk and 24/7 NOC," said Benson.

As a services aggregator, Haladon "leverages an existing network of global services providers" to offer customers a 24/7 call centre in the United States and a 24/7 NOC in India. Benson stressed the company is 100 percent indirect. As a white label service, end customers will never know they are speaking to a third party, he added.

Haladon uses Autotask as its internal IT services automation system. However, it can plug into any managed service system via APIs, said Edd Nicklin, a UK-based director of Haladon, who was in Sydney for the recent Autotask partner conference.

Outsource will charge out Service First on a flat rate fee per seat or per device, paid monthly. "Pricing is accessible for quite small MSPs," said Benson.

The deal may be just the first footstep in a burgeoning industry for outsourced NOC and support desk.

CRN spoke to Benson and Nicklin at the CompTIA community meeting in Sydney on Wednesday. They were not the only similar providers at the meetings, with UK outfit Inbay also here to investigate the market.

Inbay started life in the channel as an MSP, but saw the opportunity to productise its offering and become a white-label back-room support service for other MSPs.

Jeykishon Jeyanathan, head of managed services at Inbay, was in town for the Autotask conference and CompTIA event. He told CRN that while Inbay isn't ready to launch locally yet, this could be on the horizon.