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Covid-19: Suppliers arm the channel with free options

A range of suppliers have responded to the spread of coronavirus by making their technology free for partners to deliver for a limited time

Simon Quicke
By
Published: 18 Mar 2020 15:15

With customers struggling to deal with coronavirus, a friendly channel face offering some technology for free might be a welcome development.

A number of suppliers have responded to the global pandemic by allowing their technology, particularly those working in the collaboration and remote working space, to be made freely available for a period of time.

Acronis, the cyber protection player, is giving its service providers free access to its Cyber Files Cloud, the firm’s secure file sync and share solution, until 31 July.

The move should provide resellers with the chance to help their customers move to a remote working environment without compromising data security.

“The world has changed dramatically during the past few weeks and days as we all respond to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Acronis chief cyber officer Gaidar Magdanurov.

“As organisations adjust to the new normal – both personally and professionally – Acronis wants to reassure its partners that it’s here to support them.

“We understand the challenges of our service provider partners – providing a secure collaboration environment for their customers – and we are able to support them in this time by allowing them to enable remote work for their customers at no additional cost during the outbreak,” he said.

Axcient

Axcient provides business availability and cloud security solutions for managed service providers (MSPs) and has signalled it is offering free Anchor licences for all new users until the end of June.

“Due to the coronavirus pandemic, businesses around the country are implementing a remote workforce, and MSPs are helping enable that transition,” said David Bennett, chief executive officer at Axcient.

“At Axcient, we want to do everything we can to support our partner community, especially during this time of crisis. That is why we are offering free Anchor licences through June for new users, because Anchor is proven to help partners swiftly deploy a remote workforce for their clients through file sharing and secure collaboration.” 

RingVPN

The virtual network specialist is making its technology free for 90 days to help people get set up with home working.

Remote working has been one of the immediate growth areas as more firms tell their staff to stay away from offices and remain at home.

RingVPN’s chief marketing officer, Cian McKenna-Charley, said it made sense to offer a 90-day trial to help those firms that were looking for quick VPN support.

“Businesses and staff face an uncertain time and we’d rather not add to their anxieties, but instead do what we can to help make life that little bit easier,” he said. “By making RingVPN free for all, people can use the internet safely and securely from their own home at no expense until normality is resumed.”

Lifesize

The video conferencing firm is also aware that it can make a real difference right now, and is making its cloud offering service free for six months.

“We are watching global events carefully and have listened closely to what our customers and partners need in order to respond to this worldwide pandemic,” said Josh Kivenko, chief marketing officer of Lifesize and Serenova.

“We believe that a simple, durable, no-fineprint approach – available to both current and new customers – is the best way that we can help organisations handle an unprecedented surge in demand for enterprise-grade video collaboration,” he added.

SentinelOne

The cyber security player has taken the decision to allow partners to offer its Core product free of charge until 16 May. It should help those who are concerned about data integrity as they start to connect remotely.

“As the world faces the coronavirus pandemic, we must keep the internet and devices protected, especially as many companies have suddenly been forced to embrace work-from-home on a condensed timeline,” said Tomer Weingarten, CEO and co-founder of SentinelOne.

“During these trying times, SentinelOne won’t sit idly by and allow cyber criminals to have the upper hand when targets are more vulnerable than ever, particularly across business and healthcare sectors,” he said. “Making SentinelOne freely available helps organisations to prioritise security while halting attackers hoping to take advantage of this global situation.”

Pronto

The communication hub provider is offering access to its platform at no cost to those looking at setting up remote working operations. The firm provides a range of services, including real-time chat and group video options.

Qumulo

The firm is making its cloud file software freely available to public and private sector medical and healthcare research organisations that are working on beating coronavirus.

The software will be free until the end of July, and should help those generating research that is destined for the public cloud.

“Using Qumulo’s software to manage and understand petabytes of data in real time, medical and research organisations around the world can work together and leverage the power of the cloud and hybrid environments to fight Covid-19,” said Bill Richter, president and CEO of Qumulo.

“This virus requires every organisation that can make a difference to do so right now, and band together to solve this problem with all available technology resources and the smartest minds on the planet collaborating seamlessly,” he said. 

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