Altaro: Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware Backup Provider Makes MSP Partner Push

Altaro, which specializes in Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware vSphere backup solutions, is making a recurring revenue partner program push for MSPs.

The Malta-based virtual machine data protection company is introducing subscription pricing along with access to its Cloud Management Console (CMC) as part of its new partner program.

Altaro allows MSPs to monitor and manage all of their Hyper-V and VMware backups from a single cloud console, the company claims. Altaro has also introduced a call center to help with service needs.

The company apparently has partner momentum. Altaro, founded in 2009, now supports 6,000 partners and is reaching 40 new MSP partners per month, the company says. Roughly 1,500 of Altaro's registered partners are in the United States and Canada, with 4,500 partners located elsewhere. Altaro says its partners are managing the backup of 9,000 customer installations with 50,000 virtual machines backed up monthly.

Going Virtual

Altaro is betting on the virtual server backup and data recovery market, where the company says there is the opportunity for growth for managed service providers.

Still, that's a crowded market with intense rivalries. Veeam pioneered the VMware backup market and has since extended to Microsoft Hyper-V. Moreover, Veeam wants to grow from roughly $800 million now to $1 billion in 2018 to $1.5 billion in 2020, the company said during its VeeamOn 2017 conference in May.

Meanwhile, the MSP-centric backup market is flooded with solutions. Datto, anecdotally considered the MSP market share leader in the SMB sector, recently hosted more than 1,000 MSPs at the company's DattoCon17 conference in Denver. And additional backup companies have a range of MSP solutions on the market.

The flood of options isn't surprising. According to  Gartner Inc, 80 percent of x86 server workloads are virtualized. Further complicating matters for the vendors, many of those workloads are now shifting to public clouds.

Additional insights from Joe Panettieri.