How IaaS helps 1C franchisee: 1cloud experience
"1C" has become the most popular franchise in the past year, according to RBC. In 2016, 659 companies joined the network of franchisees, 1C partners, and for the entire 20-year history of the franchise, 7.5 thousand organizations. The market of ERP-systems is gaining growth and is approaching a rate of 10-15%. "1C" owns a third of this market, and 90% of the company's revenue comes from partners.
But not all organizations are coping with new tightening requirements and leaving the franchise partner pool. This mainly concerns small franchisees, whose quality of service is not in the first place. This is evidenced by a record number of terminated contracts for 2016 - 68. Let us see what difficulties the company faces in the 1C franchisee market, and how the IaaS provider can help in solving them.
/ Flickr / perzon seo / CC
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A few years ago, the market was full of petty and unscrupulous 1C franchisees. A rather low threshold of entry - up to 500 thousand rubles - opens the way for micro enterprises.
Sergey Danishevsky, head of Unitek24 , which provides solutions based on 1C: Enterprise 8 and 1C-Bitrix “Site Management” to more than 1,700 businesses around the world, notes: “In general, the market is quite active, saturated with various players, since it’s relatively easy to enter ".
On the one hand, this is good: small teams have the opportunity to earn money and there is no need to invest in promoting their own brand. On the other hand, problems arise - the desire to “survive” in a highly competitive market for some projects prevails over responsibility to customers and partners. Such businesses periodically spoil the reputation of the entire network - their employees were represented by 1C, and then they caused damage to someone else's business.
The format of the “blind” introduction of products - without the training of specialists - is well known , widely discussed and, unfortunately, has no final solution, except for the intervention of the franchisee. Now the franchisor has tightened the requirements for partners, and unscrupulous companies in the network has become less. However, it is easier to spoil the reputation than to restore it - companies that do not pay enough attention to the quality of services cast a shadow not only on their business, but also on the entire network of enterprises operating under the 1C logo.
According to the founder of 1C, Boris Nuraliev, the working hour of a 1C programmer in Moscow is estimated at 2,200 rubles. According to other sources, in the regions it costs about 1,500 rubles. Since "1C" does not dictate its own conditions on software mark-up and the cost of implementation services, a possibility for dumping opens up before the franchisee.
Competition is especially felt when introducing standard solutions. Small franchisees are ready to increase the burden on their subordinates, achieving the minimum cost of services. An example is a programmer's story about working in a small company, where one person combines three positions.
Total savings give some franchisees a cost advantage. However, this process has the other side of the coin - employees who have to combine several positions at a time are more likely to make a mistake and simply “burn out” at work. Naturally, such situations will negatively affect the quality of services. And this, again, casts a shadow on the whole network.
Another problem franchisee - competition from the "pirates". Unlicensed counterparts of 1C products appeared at one of the first stages of the company's development and are accompanying it to this day, despite the criminal responsibility for distributors.
Reputation is an invaluable asset in a competitive market, where someone periodically makes mistakes on behalf of a brand. It is easy to lose without meeting the requirements of customers. And if the franchisee at the same time provides services not at the lowest prices, it is necessary to constantly prove to customers that the required level of quality is indeed worth it, despite the abundance of cheaper offers.
The most important requirement of customers - services "1C" should always be available. No one will figure out whether the franchisee failed the employee, the server, or there was some kind of global failure. If something fails, you can not count on understanding. And this is despite the fact that it is necessary to provide high quality services not on a case-by-case basis, but constantly:
“Customer retention in this area is often calculated over the years, which makes it necessary to adhere to strict internal quality standards if a partner plans to work in the market for a long time and increase the customer base.”
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
So, to earn and defend the reputation of a high-class 1C franchisee is not easy. Sergey Danishevsky, on the example of his company, identifies three important factors that will allow to achieve this:
In order to “build up” from other franchisees, companies have to study the market, offer new solutions that are more convenient for customers compared to the standard set of services:
“For example, we were the first on the Russian market to use CMS 1C-Bitrix“ Site Management ”in the cloud, according to the SaaS model, while integrating online stores on Bitrix with cloud 1C and Bitrix24. Of course, we fully accompany all of this infrastructure, from system administration to services to refine each of the products to the needs of the client. Offering comprehensive, ready-made cloud solutions, we easily outperform small franchisees, better and better meeting the needs of the market. ”
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
This allows you to compete with actively dumping players - they simply do not have the resources (both technical and "human") to implement complex projects:
“In my opinion, a company that competes with the quality and variety of additional services will always beat those who are engaged in dumping in order to undertake at least some work.”
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
What does the IaaS mean here: “repacking” the usual services, the emergence of new services requires the involvement of specialists. And this means that some of them will have to take up the new project and cease to fulfill their current duties (there is no question of combining the three posts here). And all this in terms of the need to provide the most reliable service.
In such a situation, the IaaS provider can help the company: the cloud infrastructure first of all eliminates the need to control the hardware, thereby significantly reducing the burden on system administrators (who can take on other, more important tasks). APIs that automate server deployment for new customers are another opportunity to implement complex, resource-intensive projects, without attracting additional specialists and without “loading” employees with additional responsibilities.
In the case of Unitek24, this approach to the division of responsibilities between the franchisee and the IaaS provider 1cloud turned out to be fully justified - the franchisee is much more interested in developing its own service and services and not wasting its own specialists on a routine:
"At the initial stage of the project, we calculated the budget for the project to build our own cloud and came to the conclusion that it would be more profitable and more efficient to find a reliable IaaS partner, concentrating our internal resources on the development of the service."
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
One of the most important characteristics of a faithful 1C franchisee is reliability. As Sergey Danishevsky rightly notes, the inaccessibility of the service for the client can very often be critical. Naturally, after such an incident, the client will consider whether it is worth risking again, and the French will have to convince him that this will not happen again.
What does IaaS have to do with this: the first thing that can be offered in this case to the franchisee is to control everything yourself, using our own facilities and equipment. Unfortunately, this option may be more expensive than working with an IaaS provider. And this entails an increase in the cost of services for customers (and here we are talking about basic functionality, and not about new products or services). In a market where competitors are actively dumping, such a choice can be risky.
In Unitek24, when choosing an IaaS provider, it is advised to pay attention to the following points:
“At the moment we are using IaaS-infrastructure both for serving our clients and for our own needs. Our company works with the same software products and on the same platform on which we offer services to clients. ”
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
According to Sergey Danishevsky, the majority of Unitek24 customers understand the need for backup copies and are happy to shift this duty to 1C franchisee. However, in conditions of dumping and fierce competition, not all franchisees can provide backup services in the required quality, while maintaining low prices, especially since many customers are not familiar with the details of this procedure and are ready to take the franchisee to the word:
“Few [of the clients] think about exactly how backup copies are formed and whether there is a guarantee of their formation and integrity. Therefore, it is very important that backups are created regularly, the necessary time is safely and safely stored. ”
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
What does it have to do with IaaS: reliable data storage is one of the direct tasks of an IaaS provider. For example, users of 1cloud have the ability to configure automatic backup generation, and create snapshots . Developing a similar infrastructure with your own hands for the franchisee can be difficult - especially when competitors, relying on customers' credulity, save on this direction.
All these solutions allow the franchisee to achieve the main thing: to provide the client with a stable and reliable service and concentrate on their immediate tasks and the creation of new services without increasing the price tag.
On the basis of communication with customers, we have compiled a list of technologies and solutions that are now especially in demand among 1C franchisees. If you decide to go to the cloud, you should ask the provider if it provides these features:
“In 1cloud, this task is implemented on the basis of the configured server - the user creates his own template, from which you can then deploy new virtual machines. To get a new build, upon request to support, you can “mount” the client ISO to an empty virtual machine and deploy the required version of the server OS. The “hot” server copying function is also supported (the current state is copied without stopping the server operation) ”.
- Sergey Belkin, Head of Development, 1cloud
"The 1cloud client receives full administrator rights on the leased virtual machines and can open all the necessary ports and set up data exchange using the protocols he needs."
- Sergey Belkin, Head of Development, 1cloud
“One of the options for testing system performance is the Gilev test. Despite the fact that this test is synthetic, it is quite suitable for the initial assessment of the equipment used by the provider for the suitability of working with 1C. Therefore, the Gilev test in the 1C community is one of the most popular and reliable assessment methods. ”
- Sergey Belkin, Head of Development, 1cloud
An example of a Gilev test for 1C with a file database on a virtual server 1cloud.ru
There are several options for how a franchisee can organize work with an infrastructure provider (and save):
PS We also prepared a material in which we told you about the difficulties of web studios that the hosting provider helps to understand.
PPS Here are some more materials from the 1cloud corporate blog:
But not all organizations are coping with new tightening requirements and leaving the franchise partner pool. This mainly concerns small franchisees, whose quality of service is not in the first place. This is evidenced by a record number of terminated contracts for 2016 - 68. Let us see what difficulties the company faces in the 1C franchisee market, and how the IaaS provider can help in solving them.
/ Flickr / perzon seo / CC
')
1. Turnover: it is easy for dubious companies to enter the market
A few years ago, the market was full of petty and unscrupulous 1C franchisees. A rather low threshold of entry - up to 500 thousand rubles - opens the way for micro enterprises.
Sergey Danishevsky, head of Unitek24 , which provides solutions based on 1C: Enterprise 8 and 1C-Bitrix “Site Management” to more than 1,700 businesses around the world, notes: “In general, the market is quite active, saturated with various players, since it’s relatively easy to enter ".
On the one hand, this is good: small teams have the opportunity to earn money and there is no need to invest in promoting their own brand. On the other hand, problems arise - the desire to “survive” in a highly competitive market for some projects prevails over responsibility to customers and partners. Such businesses periodically spoil the reputation of the entire network - their employees were represented by 1C, and then they caused damage to someone else's business.
The format of the “blind” introduction of products - without the training of specialists - is well known , widely discussed and, unfortunately, has no final solution, except for the intervention of the franchisee. Now the franchisor has tightened the requirements for partners, and unscrupulous companies in the network has become less. However, it is easier to spoil the reputation than to restore it - companies that do not pay enough attention to the quality of services cast a shadow not only on their business, but also on the entire network of enterprises operating under the 1C logo.
2. Dumping: to survive, franchisees reduce the price of services - sometimes to the detriment of quality
According to the founder of 1C, Boris Nuraliev, the working hour of a 1C programmer in Moscow is estimated at 2,200 rubles. According to other sources, in the regions it costs about 1,500 rubles. Since "1C" does not dictate its own conditions on software mark-up and the cost of implementation services, a possibility for dumping opens up before the franchisee.
Competition is especially felt when introducing standard solutions. Small franchisees are ready to increase the burden on their subordinates, achieving the minimum cost of services. An example is a programmer's story about working in a small company, where one person combines three positions.
Total savings give some franchisees a cost advantage. However, this process has the other side of the coin - employees who have to combine several positions at a time are more likely to make a mistake and simply “burn out” at work. Naturally, such situations will negatively affect the quality of services. And this, again, casts a shadow on the whole network.
Another problem franchisee - competition from the "pirates". Unlicensed counterparts of 1C products appeared at one of the first stages of the company's development and are accompanying it to this day, despite the criminal responsibility for distributors.
3. Result: an impeccable reputation has to be proven constantly
Reputation is an invaluable asset in a competitive market, where someone periodically makes mistakes on behalf of a brand. It is easy to lose without meeting the requirements of customers. And if the franchisee at the same time provides services not at the lowest prices, it is necessary to constantly prove to customers that the required level of quality is indeed worth it, despite the abundance of cheaper offers.
The most important requirement of customers - services "1C" should always be available. No one will figure out whether the franchisee failed the employee, the server, or there was some kind of global failure. If something fails, you can not count on understanding. And this is despite the fact that it is necessary to provide high quality services not on a case-by-case basis, but constantly:
“Customer retention in this area is often calculated over the years, which makes it necessary to adhere to strict internal quality standards if a partner plans to work in the market for a long time and increase the customer base.”
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
What to do (and how IaaS can help here)
So, to earn and defend the reputation of a high-class 1C franchisee is not easy. Sergey Danishevsky, on the example of his company, identifies three important factors that will allow to achieve this:
1. New service delivery models and integrated solutions
In order to “build up” from other franchisees, companies have to study the market, offer new solutions that are more convenient for customers compared to the standard set of services:
“For example, we were the first on the Russian market to use CMS 1C-Bitrix“ Site Management ”in the cloud, according to the SaaS model, while integrating online stores on Bitrix with cloud 1C and Bitrix24. Of course, we fully accompany all of this infrastructure, from system administration to services to refine each of the products to the needs of the client. Offering comprehensive, ready-made cloud solutions, we easily outperform small franchisees, better and better meeting the needs of the market. ”
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
This allows you to compete with actively dumping players - they simply do not have the resources (both technical and "human") to implement complex projects:
“In my opinion, a company that competes with the quality and variety of additional services will always beat those who are engaged in dumping in order to undertake at least some work.”
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
What does the IaaS mean here: “repacking” the usual services, the emergence of new services requires the involvement of specialists. And this means that some of them will have to take up the new project and cease to fulfill their current duties (there is no question of combining the three posts here). And all this in terms of the need to provide the most reliable service.
In such a situation, the IaaS provider can help the company: the cloud infrastructure first of all eliminates the need to control the hardware, thereby significantly reducing the burden on system administrators (who can take on other, more important tasks). APIs that automate server deployment for new customers are another opportunity to implement complex, resource-intensive projects, without attracting additional specialists and without “loading” employees with additional responsibilities.
In the case of Unitek24, this approach to the division of responsibilities between the franchisee and the IaaS provider 1cloud turned out to be fully justified - the franchisee is much more interested in developing its own service and services and not wasting its own specialists on a routine:
"At the initial stage of the project, we calculated the budget for the project to build our own cloud and came to the conclusion that it would be more profitable and more efficient to find a reliable IaaS partner, concentrating our internal resources on the development of the service."
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
2. Reliability, resiliency and data protection
One of the most important characteristics of a faithful 1C franchisee is reliability. As Sergey Danishevsky rightly notes, the inaccessibility of the service for the client can very often be critical. Naturally, after such an incident, the client will consider whether it is worth risking again, and the French will have to convince him that this will not happen again.
What does IaaS have to do with this: the first thing that can be offered in this case to the franchisee is to control everything yourself, using our own facilities and equipment. Unfortunately, this option may be more expensive than working with an IaaS provider. And this entails an increase in the cost of services for customers (and here we are talking about basic functionality, and not about new products or services). In a market where competitors are actively dumping, such a choice can be risky.
In Unitek24, when choosing an IaaS provider, it is advised to pay attention to the following points:
- Protection of customer data - without this, the work of the franchisee is impossible.
- Service availability level - this includes not only availability at the level of 99.9%, but also round-the-clock technical support, the ability to work with fault-tolerant distributed storage, scalability and interchangeability of resources
- Availability of API for monitoring and managing servers.
“At the moment we are using IaaS-infrastructure both for serving our clients and for our own needs. Our company works with the same software products and on the same platform on which we offer services to clients. ”
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
3. Data Recovery Solutions
According to Sergey Danishevsky, the majority of Unitek24 customers understand the need for backup copies and are happy to shift this duty to 1C franchisee. However, in conditions of dumping and fierce competition, not all franchisees can provide backup services in the required quality, while maintaining low prices, especially since many customers are not familiar with the details of this procedure and are ready to take the franchisee to the word:
“Few [of the clients] think about exactly how backup copies are formed and whether there is a guarantee of their formation and integrity. Therefore, it is very important that backups are created regularly, the necessary time is safely and safely stored. ”
- Sergey Danishevsky, Unitek24
What does it have to do with IaaS: reliable data storage is one of the direct tasks of an IaaS provider. For example, users of 1cloud have the ability to configure automatic backup generation, and create snapshots . Developing a similar infrastructure with your own hands for the franchisee can be difficult - especially when competitors, relying on customers' credulity, save on this direction.
All these solutions allow the franchisee to achieve the main thing: to provide the client with a stable and reliable service and concentrate on their immediate tasks and the creation of new services without increasing the price tag.
Our experience: what else can be important "1C" franchisee
On the basis of communication with customers, we have compiled a list of technologies and solutions that are now especially in demand among 1C franchisees. If you decide to go to the cloud, you should ask the provider if it provides these features:
- Create and store your own virtual server reference images and use them to deploy new virtual servers
“In 1cloud, this task is implemented on the basis of the configured server - the user creates his own template, from which you can then deploy new virtual machines. To get a new build, upon request to support, you can “mount” the client ISO to an empty virtual machine and deploy the required version of the server OS. The “hot” server copying function is also supported (the current state is copied without stopping the server operation) ”.
- Sergey Belkin, Head of Development, 1cloud
- Creating new virtual servers and managing existing ones through the API
- Connecting to the infrastructure of your own data storage through the necessary protocol (for example, SAMBA or FTP / SFTP)
"The 1cloud client receives full administrator rights on the leased virtual machines and can open all the necessary ports and set up data exchange using the protocols he needs."
- Sergey Belkin, Head of Development, 1cloud
- The ability to migrate existing virtual containers (for example, LXC), using container management solutions (Docker / Kubernetes)
- General testing of the performance of processor cores and disk subsystems using machine images of high-loaded franchisee clients
“One of the options for testing system performance is the Gilev test. Despite the fact that this test is synthetic, it is quite suitable for the initial assessment of the equipment used by the provider for the suitability of working with 1C. Therefore, the Gilev test in the 1C community is one of the most popular and reliable assessment methods. ”
- Sergey Belkin, Head of Development, 1cloud
An example of a Gilev test for 1C with a file database on a virtual server 1cloud.ru
How to organize work with the provider
There are several options for how a franchisee can organize work with an infrastructure provider (and save):
- All leased facilities are consolidated under the franchisee account. In 1cloud, he is entitled to receive a deposit bonus of up to 25% of the received amount.
- Referral program. In this case, the clients are placed under separate accounts and themselves pay the cost of renting servers. The franchisee, by agreement, provides their configuration and support. The most pleasant part is that all deposits in the client’s account are tied to the franchisee’s partner account . He receives a remuneration of 10% of the amount of all payments of his client in the first year of his work with 1cloud, and 5% - all subsequent years.
- White Label Partnership. Large franchisees become independent resellers of service providers. With the help of branded control panel, they can attract new customers and assign the final cost of services. WhiteLabel - an opportunity to organize an additional business line with the help of an IaaS provider.
PS We also prepared a material in which we told you about the difficulties of web studios that the hosting provider helps to understand.
PPS Here are some more materials from the 1cloud corporate blog:
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/344414/
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