We are excited to put forward our first submission for the Forrester Groundswell Awards.


Asigra has built its Cloud Backup business over the last 25 years around a 100% channel model, selling through Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Value Added Resellers (VARs).


The channel is our direct customer, through we refer to them as partners since they deliver cloud backup services to enterprises who are the "end customer".



Pre-2010 Situation:
  1. Minimal engagement between Asigra's team and the Partner Community.
  2. Partners were working independently of each other and not engaging to share best practices.
  3. Poor brand recognition for Asigra amongst the Managed Service Provider and Reseller community.

Our strategic objectives for 2010 are:
  1. Build a strong ecosystem of Asigra-Powered Service Providers & Resellers.
  2. Establish Asigra partners as thought leaders in the eyes of their customers, in alignment with Asigra's position as a thought leader within the cloud backup industry.
  3. Encourage initiative and leadership within the community and inculcate a sense of belonging.
  4. Increase the number of customer references and word of mouth referrals generated by a minimum of 25%.

How we are doing this:

Creation of the Asigra Partner Portal to establish an online community of partners, with the Asigra Partner Portal the online "water cooler" for our Partners.

  1. Built content that focused on assisting Partners in growing and nurturing their businesses.
  2. Provided Partners with tools to go out and build their own marketing and sales materials to ensure consistency in brand messages amongst the Partner Community.
  3. Built an anonymous discussion forum where Partners could ask each other questions on a range of issues, from Marketing and Sales to Technical advice.
  4. Promoted certain key contributors on the forum to Moderator status, thereby further empowering the community and creating a healthy sense of competition.
  5. Created an online tool for Partners to submit use cases and customer success stories to be shared amongst each other and an external audience.
  6. The Partner Forum area of the Asigra Hybrid Partner Portal receives daily participation from partners, versus sporadic engagement at launch.
  7. Asigra partners are submitting an average of 4 case studies each in 2010, versus 0-1 case studies in 2006-2009, a fourfold increase.
  8. Providing an online tool for partners to register prospect customer accounts and qualify for additional discounts.
  9. Asigra Corporate Marketing uses the portal to increase partner engagement through other social media tools such as the Asigra Corporate blog, Asigra Twitter account and Asigra Cloud Backup LinkedIn group.

Asigra Partner Portal


Results:
  1. The Partner Portal membership numbers have tripled in just 8 months with over 450 member companies today!
  2. The Partner Forum (Discussion Board) is now actively engaged by Partners looking to seek advice from the community and to communicate requests to Asigra.
  3. The Asigra online case study submission tool was highlighted in the Forrester report "5 Things Channel Partners Look for In Their Vendors" as a best practice around supporting partners.


Additional social tools that connect with the main Asigra Partner Portal include the following:

1. Asigra's Corporate Blog
Asigra Blog


  1. Goal: To build a Blog that provides resources and advice to our Partners and gives them opportunities to demonstrate their thought leadership.
  1. All blog posts are educational, with a focus on providing our Partners with advice and resources.
  2. Monthly series of blog posts titled: "Advice from an MSP for an MSP" help us start conversations amongst peers within our community.
  3. Our blog is also used to communicate important news and updates.
  4. Cross references to our Partners' blog posts.


Results:
  1. Our company blog is religiously followed by our Partner Community today. Our sales team often get phone calls from their customers when they publish a post to further discuss and comment on it. It is also frequently the second or third most visited page on our website.
  2. Our blog has also played a big part in helping us increase our visit to lead conversion ratio from 0.5% to over 4% on our website - with inquiries from both channel and end customers.
  3. Asigra receives weekly requests from partners requesting to be contributors to our blog or to be a featured MSP.


3. Twitter
Asigra Twitter Account


  1. Goal: Foster open communication with Partners
  1. Used Twitter to Connect Partners together to share thoughts, ideas and resources
  2. Share content with our Partners publicly through Twitter - content that helps our Partners become better businesses. This demonstrates how Asigra is actively engaged and involved with its partners.


Results:
  1. Achieved an overall increase of 80% in follower count over the past year
  2. Mentioned over 400 times every month on Twitter now as opposed to less than 20 times per month when last measured in October 2009.


4. Flickr


  1. Goal: Personalize the relationship between Asigra and its partners, to foster a sense of community and support
  1. Used Flickr to document Partner and Asigra events
  2. Shared photo albums with Partners after each event
  3. Used photos and links in various communications with Partners
  4. Photos used by partners on their own websites and customer communications


5. Partner Community Newsletter
Asigra Newsletter Screen Grab


  1. Meant to highlight the achievements of Partners.
  2. Discuss and highlight key issues, with links to forum topics and blog posts.
  3. Share resources that assist in Partners' sales cycles.
  4. Keep Partners informed of developments in the industry.
  5. Drive them to more actively engage with each other through the Forum and Portal.

Results:
  1. Close to 50% click through rates for our Monthly Newsletter.



7. Conversations on LinkedIn
  1. Using the tool Hubspot, we are now tracking conversations pertaining to backup and recovery on LinkedIn. Asigra either responds online to end customer inquiries by connecting the right Partners with the right prospects.
  2. Asigra has created the Cloud Backup group, whose members are both Partners and prospects. This group has allowed partners to post questions or share experiences around customer pain points and support each other with solutions to customer problems.


Results:
  1. Our Partners have closed 2 deals solely through conversations on LinkedIn, and there are more in the pipeline.
  2. Membership in the Cloud Backup group is growing by 5% weekly.


Net Result


  1. In July 2010 over 91% of Asigra partners said they would recommend Asigra to a peer, based on the value we provide beyond our software.

  2. 300% year over year growth in number of net new Asigra partners (customers) in 2010 vs. 2009.

  3. Positive online mentions of Asigra and its partners increased 200% year over year in 2010 vs. 2009.




Twitter Feed




Blog Feed