BT has signed a two-year deal with iomart for the right to exclusively distribute it's NetIntelligence roadband Home Edition parental control and internet security software within the UK and Ireland. The deal also provides BT with non exclusive distribution rights for the rest of the world.
Q: Why have you chosen to do the deal?
A: Two simple words: perfect synergy! We have developed the world's first parental control and internet security software designed for consumer broadband connections-the product, and BT with over 4 million UK broadband lines, has the market. It has long been recognised that always on can mean "always vulnerable"
and there are very strong market indicators that there is a gap in the marketplace for an easy to use combination threat protection product. By agreeing to sell to one distributor, we can effectively build a true partnership to ensure that the product is tailored to suit the needs of their customers. It is far easier and certainly more economically viable to build processes and service level plans to support one customer than it is to serve a host of disparate vendors.
Q: What are their plans for the product and why did the company want to add it to its portfolio?
A: Both parties want to create as much "noise" about the product as quickly as possible. We both believe that have a terrific window of opportunity at the moment. As UK broadband uptake continues to rise, more and more non-technical families are converting to high speed access. And, for the majority of people, deployment and use of security applications can be confusing and frustrating. All internet users, especially children are entitled to an abuse-free online environment and it is important that internet services and products are offered that make it as easy as possible for consumers to control their experience of the world-wide web.
Q: What attracted BT to the iomart solution?
A: We will be offering the product to BT in a completely "white label" format. This is a highly attractive proposition for our partner. Many of BT's current customer base have strong brand identities and they remain keen to promote products and services which reinforce their own values to their end users-rather than simply reselling a third party product. This offering will enable them to deliver the product to their base form their own infrastructure without needing to invest in capital or R&D. It will literally be "sign here and 30 days later you will be offering NetIntelligence as a value add to your broadband subscriber base". A key factor for BT when taking our product, was that we have a demonstrable wealth of experience in the ISP world-in other words we understand this market and understand the key drivers that support it. We knew that the product would need to be delivered at low cost, enable a healthy gross margin, would require as little implementation effort as possible, could be sold in different ways, e.g. stand alone or bundled, and would need to be easily supported. We both believe that we have achieved this with the NetIntelligence solution.
Q: How does BT intend to market?
A: Our partner will market the product to its base via the existing Account Management infrastructure. Two versions will be offered by BT. The first is the aforementioned full blown white label aimed at the larger service providers and the second is an single branded version which can be offered to smaller players who simply want to be able to offer the product should they receive requests or it.
Q: What are the future developments for both the product and the relationship?
A: Both parties will work very closely together to ensure that we both derive our objectives from the relationship. Over the next two years we plan to develop the product. As the market moves so will we. BT is ideally placed to receive feedback form its customers and their end users and we will ensure that we build as much of this into futureenhancements. We are already planning variants of NetIntelligence for both the SME and Education sectors, which we hope to launch later this quarter, and we are already "roadmapping" several enhancements to the Home Edition. In addition to the features and functionality of the product, we are also looking at the wider marketplace, particularly Europe and the US, which will obviously lead to international versions of NetIntelligence. All in all it is fair to state that we are in for some exciting times.
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