Jim’s Computer Services takes MPmail nationwide through its franchisee community

The national network of Jim's Computer Services has added Manage Protect’s successful MPmail managed service to the armoury of its franchisees’ offerings.

Two years ago, Jim’s Computer Services’ customer base was 60 per cent consumer and 40 per cent business. Today, this has reversed, with 60 per cent of customers being small businesses.

“Not only have we promoted MPmail to our franchisees as an ideal anti-spam, anti-virus managed email solution for their customers, we are adopting the service to protect our own franchise email systems,” said Andrew Hart, National Franchisor Manager for Jim’s Computer Services.

Hart indicated that they had evaluated a number of mail security products but found MPmail offered the best of breed, comprehensive security to businesses. “Our franchisees are only interested in offering the best product on the market, with strong local support to customers as its performance reflects and impacts directly on them,” he said.

Andrew Johnson, Manage Protect’s Managing Director, said that over 50 per cent of the 85 national franchisees have already signed agreements with Manage Protect, with the remaining to sign in the next six weeks. The Jim’s Computer Services franchise community is expanding rapidly with franchise numbers forecast at 100 by the end of 2010.

MPmail training for the franchisees has taken place in New South Wales and Victoria and is scheduled to take place in the other states shortly. They have also been supplied with technical and marketing collateral.

“At the end of the day, the web-based service [MPmail] sells itself to both the franchisee and the customer due to the simplicity of implementation, the low monthly service fee and the clear productivity return a business derives,” said Hart. “The franchisee receives an annuity based on the monthly recurring fees paid by the customer. It can’t be simpler.”

The online security SaaS provider offers two engagement options depending on how involved the organisation wishes to be. Franchisees can become a Managed Service Provider (MSP) or a Value Added Reseller (VAR) partner.

“Our per seat per month pricing model suits the small business market Jim’s Computer Services franchisees deal with, said Johnson. “There is genuine enthusiasm about the partnership and we’re looking forward to working together.”

A number of the regional franchisors have also shown interest in MPweb, Manage Protect’s business grade, automatically updated web filtering and security service. “We are impressed with MPweb and the simplicity in implementing the service. We are next evaluating MParchive and, I believe, that we will have a suite of Manage Protect cloud based services available to our customers via our franchisees by the end of this year,” concluded Hart.

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About Manage Protect Pty Ltd (www.manageprotect.com.au)

Manage Protect is an Australian online security SaaS provider to the VAR (Value Added Reseller) and MSP (Managed Service Provider) channel in Australia and New Zealand. The company delivers SMB focused security SaaS powered by best-of-breed vendors from around the world under the Manage Protect brand.

Jim's Computer Services (www.jimscomputerservices.com)

Jim's Computer Services provides a full range of computer solutions for business owners, home office workers and home computer users. The national network of locally based IT professionals covers all metropolitan and country areas around Australia. The Jim's Computer Services network is backed by the Jim's Group of companies and has the staff, expertise and resources to be able to react quickly to any IT related issues.