Acronis and US Signal Expand Distribution Agreement to Bring Backup and Disaster Recovery Solutions to Managed Service Providers

Acronis, a leader in hybrid cloud data protection, today announced an expanded distribution agreement with US Signal, an industry-leading network and cloud-hosting provider in the Midwest. As a result of the agreement, Acronis becomes the exclusive provider of backup and disaster recovery solutions for US Signal's managed service provider (MSP) customers. Acronis is a fast, easy to use and the most complete solution for on-premises, cloud and mobile workloads.

Today's businesses face new challenges when it comes to data protection, including massive increases in data volume, man-made and natural disasters, and cyber-threats, such as ransomware. According to Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), data backup and recovery consistently rank among the top IT priorities for organizations of all sizes, but especially for midsized organizations. US Signal is addressing the growing demand for business continuity solutions as MSPs now have access to complete data protection solutions offered by US Signal. The addition of new backup and disaster recovery offerings give MSPs even better control of data and margins.

As US Signal looked to expand its offerings to the MSP market, having an easy to deploy and manage, safe and complete backup and disaster recovery solution as part of its portfolio was a vital missing component. US Signal needed a partner that would enable this product offering while using the current US Signal cloud infrastructure that was in place. The infrastructure, which includes eight data centers and one of the largest, fully deployed networks in the Midwest, consists of both physical and virtual servers. This meant the technology needed to be flexible, highly scalable and enable MSPs to have complete control of their offering.

"US Signal has made backup and recovery in the cloud a business success at Ease Technologies. Our ability to create additional revenue is greatly enhanced by leveraging the US Signal developed service with the Acronis technology, allowing us to offer our customers a fully managed backup and recovery product," said Jason Shirdon, VP of Operations at Ease Technologies, Inc., an MSP based in Maryland. "The US Signal management platform is easy to use and allows us to efficiently control and monitor our pricing and product offerings for end users as needed."

Acronis Backup Cloud allows US Signal MSPs to offer backup targets in the cloud in order to provide a geographically diverse, scalable, and inherently highly available storage repository. MSPs can also perform backups from their on-premises physical or virtual environment or a US Signal cloud infrastructure and have restores done to the source or a disparate location, all while managing and monitoring all backup activities for an entire environment via a single, centralized management console with a modern user interface. This enables a MSP to meet the specific needs of its customers, creating stickiness with additional services to reduce churn.

"Acronis intimately understands the needs of MSPs, and offers a solution that not only provides the ability for service providers to easily sell managed services on top of the US Signal platform, but the company also ensures our MSP partners can sell recovery services using the US Signal public cloud as a recovery target," said Amanda Regnerus, vice president of marketing and product development at US Signal. "We had very stringent requirements for our backup and disaster recovery partner and Acronis met every need. We are very pleased with the turnkey focus of the product and service that Acronis provides, as it's very easy for our customers to get up and running quickly."

Based on the new Acronis Hybrid Cloud architecture and powered by the Acronis AnyData Engine, Acronis Backup Cloud is the #1 backup solution for service providers. It provides fast, easy, complete, and safe data protection for any data, in any environment, and in any location. Acronis Backup Cloud supports physical Windows and Linux, virtual VMware, Hyper-V, Xen, RHEV, KVM, and Oracle VMs, as well as Microsoft Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, Active Directory, and mobile devices. Acronis' multi-destination support can store backup data anywhere - onsite, in the Acronis Cloud or within the US Signal datacenter.

"Ensuring service providers have easy to use and complete data protection offerings is a requirement in order for them to do business today," said John Zanni, CMO at Acronis. "Acronis lets service providers control their deployment, licensing, business models and data destination - all important features that enable them to control margin and grow their business. The partnership with US Signal was a natural fit, as our technology, focus on innovation and dedication to service providers aligns with the company's mission."