DMP SA in South Africa Launches Ecommerce Online Portal

Data Management Professionals South Africa (DMP SA) has launched an ecommerce online portal to enable customers to purchase Commvault’s Metallic Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering, after becoming Africa’s first MSP of Metallic last year.

The website was launched at the end of January and is aimed at enabling DMP to offer a wider customer base of end users’ access to adopting the Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) technology with Metallic.

With Metallic, Commvault ensure organisations’ Microsoft Office 365 data is protected and ready when it is needed – that it’s recoverable, searchable and moveable. Metallic is part of Commvault’s Intelligent Data Services Platform that allows organisations to proactively simplify and manage the complexity of enterprise data. Microsoft leverages Commvault to manage and protect some of its most important data, including data in Azure, Office and other technologies.

Metallic covers the entire spectrum of data protection, with its biggest focus area being the protection of Microsoft 365 environments that are hosted on the Microsoft cloud platform. It is also the platform to protect hybrid cloud environments and workloads, including end-point devices, physical server environments and virtual environments. Metallic is suited to any market segment, from customers who have small amounts of data and devices to enterprise-scale environments.

“The website will enable us to reach a much wider audience who will be able to purchase all the Metallic subscriptions and licences online. This is an additional platform for customers to use to transact with us and is an extension of the services that we already offer to market. It is also a means for us to spread brand awareness,” says DMP MD Iniel Dreyer.

He explains that the website is mainly aimed at end users rather than resellers, as resellers have access to DMP’s offerings through its channel partner program: “After being appointed a Metallic MSP last year, we wanted to enable customers to have instant access to the Metallic solutions they need. We see this as yet another platform for consumers to transact with us in an increasingly digital world. We are always seeking ways to add more value for our customers.“

Personalised experience
Dreyer explains that customers can expect a personalised experience on the website, even though they are engaging with the company via a digital platform. Customers will have to register on the portal before purchasing a Metallic subscription, which will enable them to manage their entire Metallic journey through their profile: “Once a customer registers on the site, they will be able to access all the subscriptions and licences that they’ve purchased. They will also be able to manage or cancel their subscriptions, or add licences to existing subscriptions, so it is a personalised service for each customer. Additionally, customers will also have access to 24/7 in-country support from DMP SA, as well as assistance with implementation of the services. The site provides a very interactive experience and is essentially a one-stop shop to manage all your data management subscriptions.“

Moving to cloud
“The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed many companies to undertake the cloud journey. While companies are moving to various cloud providers, Microsoft Azure remains one of the biggest cloud providers in the South African market. Metallic uses the Microsoft Azure platform, so it makes sense for customers who want to protect their data to turn to a trusted vendor,” says Dreyer.

He also points out companies have become accustomed to paying for SaaS offerings on a consumption basis and Metallic ties in with the Opex model that many organisations are currently switching over to.

“The Metallic ecommerce site demonstrates that our business is expanding and we want to reach customers that we couldn’t reach through traditional methods. This forms part of our growth plan as we head into the digital era. We’ve been around for several years and we want to ensure that we build a model of trust with our customers and allow them to transact with us via ecommerce,” Dreyer concludes.