Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud computing are taking IT in new directions, and savvy vendors and their channel partners are following. After opening up an office in Australia in February, SaaS provider LogMeIn is now concentrating on increasing its presence in New Zealand. The company offers unique remote management services that are an additional boon to resellers, as they do not require large start-up costs for resellers or their customers.

“Remote access and remote support; those are technologies that have been around for a while,” said Matt Fleming, Senior Marketing Manager at LogMeIn. “But where Softwareas a Service and LogMeIn fits in, is that we actually make it cost-effective to go ahead and roll out those services.”

He added: “It’s not like you have to go ahead and buy another appliance that you have to roll out at each customer site.”

Fleming said that LogMeIn is a good add-on for those resellers interested in supplying support or managed services toclients as an additional source of income to supplement business, as many resellers are shifting from the traditional mindset of selling boxes and hardware.

“Typically you have people who are resellers who are … trying to find a way to move beyond simply that transactional relationship with their existing customers,” he said. “They’re looking for a way to provide those value-added services, and that’s where we really find adoption with resellers: with the resellers who are looking to supplement theirexisting business.”

Fleming said that although the Australia/ New Zealand office only opened in February, the company already had a few resellers in New Zealand before then. And though the company is public, the regional numbers of resellers won’t be available until the end of the year. However, Fleming maintained that the company is “pleased with where we are now in terms of growth in the region”.

The Australia/New Zealand office will serve as a base from which the company intends to expand further into Asia Pacific, while the sales and support staff will grow along with the company in order to provide support 24 hours a day in the same time zone.

“Basically we’re just going to ... make it easier for our New Zealand customers to actually do business with us,” Fleming said.

When asked how LogMeIn differed from other companies offering similar services, Fleming said the main differences are that resellers are not required to buy a specific number of seats on a licence, and that the service allows for point-to-point connectivity, which “enables a reseller to provide those services quickly and effectively, in a way that many of our competitors can’t”.