AppRiver, the email and web security specialist, continues to gain channel partner momentum. Plus, the company is helping partners to manage and monetize Microsoft's Office 365 -- all from within AppRiver's dashboard.
Many of AppRiver's partner milestones surfaced in a recent ChannelE2E conversation with Channel Sales Manager Justin Gilbert. In addition to sharing business metrics and milestones, Gilbert hinted that a "single pane of glass" experience is coming along nicely. "We now have one portal to rule them all," says Gilbert, referring to a dashboard that was under development throughout 2015 and started rolling out in early 2016.
AppRiver's partners can provision Office 365 services and manage domains directly within the company's portal. As a Microsoft Cloud Solutions Provider, AppRiver's system gives partners all the perks and benefits that Microsoft partners typically enjoy. Next up, the company in March expects to unveil a range of new sales and marketing tools for partners, Gilbert says.
Even before those enhancements arrive, AppRiver's channel and business momentum is clear. According Gilbert as well as an AppRiver statement shared this week, the company in 2015 generated 36 percent channel revenue growth, attributed to a 17 percent increase in active partners, and a 21 percent increase in partner customers.
Plus, AppRiver's channel revenues are growing faster than overall revenues, which were up a healthy 19 percent. The company says demand for compliance and email encryption services drove much of that success.
AppRiver's Office 365 business doubled its net new seats volume to nearly 175,000, while channel-oriented Office 365 revenue grew 150 percent.
Still, plenty of competition lurks around every corner. In addition to email security firms, AppRiver must fend off MSP software providers that increasingly offer Office 365 management tools of their own.
