Today Phil at Tech for Techs spoke to Kiran Francis, Sales Director at Cloud Dolphin about the cloud backup market place and how they aim to change the working relationships between vendor and reseller.
Tell us about Cloud Dolphin’s history and how it started… My names Kiran Francis and I am one of the co-directors and founders of Cloud Dolphin. I am ex-military and following my service in the Royal Signals where I worked as a communications specialist, I struggled to find my passion in the civilian world.
I found myself working in a job I didn't really find satisfying, even though it was well paid and secure. I always knew there was more for me to do in the tech industry and knew I had a lot more to offer. After finding some work with a small IT business locally, I quickly identified the growing market opportunity for Cloud Backup services and decided to start Cloud Dolphin.
I updated my skills in IT and then put together a plan for a Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery business. I knew this was the best option for me as I had seen GDPR as a catalyst for businesses across the UK to make the move to more secure business cloud solutions. We started with selecting the most secure data centres in the UK to work with who held the highest security accreditations including ISO 27001 and ISO 9001.
We then purchased and installed the servers and tested the solution to breaking point, thankfully we didn’t break anything which was a relief. When we finally opened the doors for trading, we had one of the most robust and easy to use solutions on the market which meant we instantly started winning business from big names such as Acronis and Solar Winds which was another relief, starting your own business as most of you reading this know is daunting.
What products and services do you offer? Cloud Dolphin offer a complete backup solution that includes software and storage and it can be deployed anywhere in the world. All data is held on Cloud Dolphin hardware in a 256-bit encrypted format which allows us to offer a fully GDPR compliant service to the resellers end points.
We were told a lot prior to customers choosing us that other solutions on the market are far too complicated to use and that ours simplified everything for them saving them time and money. Our functionality is second to none and the user interface is a familiar Windows 10 format so the transition to understanding our product is effortless and not too techy.
This is with thanks to our resellers and end points; we always ask for feedback whether it's positive or not as this helps us see where we can make improvements. This is partly because of my military training. After any operation, successful or not, we always had a debrief which consisted 'what could have been done better'.
Pricing was a really important consideration and our competitive edge is from the fact that we took the time to understand the MSP / Reseller’s requirements and challenges. We can also deliver a personal relationship and support pretty much 24/7 which has really helped us grow as fast as we have over the past 12 months.
Tell us About the Cloud Dolphin Team and how they are willing to help independent stores.
Our team: Kiran Francis: Sales Director I am in charge of all initial sales and on boarding of new partners so if you require seed loads or would like to talk to someone about our solutions and how they could help your business, I am your man.
Andrew Fleet: Commercial Director Andrew has been involved at board level in a wide range of businesses over the past 20 years and has extensive experience in rapid growth businesses, business infrastructure, finance and contracts. His business knowledge is extensive and includes 8 years in banking with GE Capital and Lloyds and then later in his career running businesses across multiple sectors until co-founding Cloud Dolphin with Kiran.
Andrew and Kiran have been friends for over 13 years and their friendship is what brought them together to proudly start and run Cloud Dolphin.
Jonathon Clifft: Technical Lead Jonathon is the guy that never leaves the tech cave. If you ever meet him it will be because your worlds about to end and you need complete recovery assistance. He manages our support department and works in the background to make sure everything is working as it should be. A highly qualified network engineer who has worked on huge NHS and government contracts across the world. You will often see his posts about his running events and is now an ultra-marathon winner.
Why would you say there has been an increased popularity in Backup and cloud services? There has been a rise in general awareness around data security across the UK & globally this year. We have seen more incidents reported in the press regarding data breaches and ransomware being used against unprotected businesses which has helped us and our partners introduce businesses to a fully compliant solution that delivers what it says on the tin, secure data back and recovery.
Cloud Backup & Disaster Recovery provides a limitless recurring revenue stream for any reseller that pro-actively puts the end users interests first regarding data protection. Cloud Dolphin’s solutions allow you to have minimal touch points regarding backups, providing first line support when you need to on an easy to use platform. The subscription from the end user comes in monthly and this can be set up on a DD meaning automated fixed invoicing and minimal debt chasing.
If you deliver any cloud solutions then we would happily speak with you to see where we can add value to your offering to your customers and generate more sales and profit. We could literally be the thing that transforms your business.
What makes your products different? As we offer a more personal flexible service than most and we are a UK based business, you will not just be a number and you always be able to get speak to a person when you need to.
Cloud Dolphin provide a white label solution that can backup: • Files and folders • Cloud storage accounts (Amazon, Dropbox etc) • Exchange mailbox • Exchange servers • Microsoft Office 365 including Sharepoint and Onedrive • MySQL • Microsoft SQL Database • Oracle Database • Lotus • Windows System • Windows System State • VMWare – Spin up from backup destination in DR scenario • Hyper-V - Spin up from backup destination in DR scenario • Synology NAS Drive direct backup • QNAP NAS Drive direct backup
What are your future plans? Top secret of course…but what we can say is that we have several large-scale projects that have been months in the making and are a few weeks’ away from launch.
We feel that the average size MSP is caught between a rock and a hard place, stretching their time, resources and themselves in every direction. Taking calls from existing customers, taking calls from new enquiries, raising and chasing invoices, dealing with complaints, compiling quotes and following up to win business and all this while they are probably on site on an installation! always love watching the underdogs in the industry as we have been considered but we are fast becoming a leader in the sector; watch this space!
We want to genuinely help these overworked professionals and therefore we will be focusing our sister company Trusted Dolphin on helping MSP’s grow and service the work they have efficiently and profitably as well as promoting their services locally on the Trusted Dolphin national directory.
We have forged some great relationships in the industry with some big players and as a result can offer prices that beat any of our like for like competitors for our services.
We have some great relationships with our partners and a lot of them are considered friends. We do make regular trips to see them and check how they and we are doing, which keeps our finger on the pulse with regards to what people really want when looking for a Cloud Backup solution and where we can improve what we do.
Where are your services available at?
You can use our service from any location in the world as long as you have an internet connection, visit clouddolphin.co.uk for more information.
If someone wanted Point of sales materials, who would they contact
If you require any further information you can email Kiran @ kiran@clouddolphin.co.uk
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