New Acronis SMB Connect Program gives independent service providers discounts, other incentives

BURLINGTON, Mass., February 14, 2008 - Small businesses and consumers have come to depend on independent service providers for technology advice, service and maintenance, creating a growing market of trusted IT professionals across North America. With them in mind, Acronis (www.acronis.com/zh-tw/) , maker of easy-to-use disaster recovery and storage management software, today announced its SMB Connect Program for local service providers to small- and medium-sized business.

The Acronis SMB Connect Program allows service providers who work with small businesses with up to 25 desktop systems access to attractive discounts on Acronis' award-winning software, technical and sales support, and other partner incentives.

"Independent service providers are an important and growing market," says Bob Gagnon, director, Strategic & Consumer Channels, Acronis. "The SMB Connect Program is a natural extension to our Authorized Solution Provider Program, and built with these trusted IT pros in mind. Now they can have aggressive software discounts and access to support, the Acronis partners' portal, NFR software, sales training, and other partner benefits just as the larger providers do."

"Backup and recovery are an important part of the services I provide my customers, and Acronis makes high-quality disaster recovery products that I trust," said Larry Lentz, a Microsoft MVP who earned the Microsoft Small Business Specialist designation, and owner of Lentz Computer Services in San Antonio, TX. "Small and mid-sized businesses face the same kinds of disaster recovery risks as large enterprises, except SMBs generally have just a couple of servers mixed in with their desktop systems. My ability to purchase Acronis software at a discount and get the myriad of partner benefits through the SMB Connect program allows me to offer my customers world-class software, attractive pricing, a high level of support and sufficient margins to increase my profitability at the same time."

The Acronis SMB Connect Program is designed for storefront or on-premise small business and consumer IT service providers. Program benefits include:

The SMB Connect Program will be available online beginning March 1, 2008. While the program is free to join, on-going eligibility is based on a minimum annual sales volume, plus a phone/email application. For more information, please contact [email protected].