Managed email archiving
Sales support

It's rare for a customer to decide to invest in managed services entirely on their own. Most objections stem from a lack of understanding or awareness of the risks involved without the right solutions. Here are some of the most common concerns our partners typically encounter and how to address them.

Comparison with insurance

• You also have insurance for your car (liability, comprehensive). How many accidents have you had, and hasn't this insurance protected you from high repair costs?
• Insurance is a safeguard to ensure that something runs smoothly. And that's precisely what managed services are all about.

IT outages and development

• Have you experienced any IT outages in the past? What did these outages cost you? And what did you have to pay for the so-called IT emergency response – that is, for the services of your IT service provider who helped you in an emergency? What did the downtime of your business cost you?
• IT is constantly evolving. New technologies make new concepts possible and necessary. Don't get left behind.
• The security vulnerabilities are becoming increasingly severe; even the Tagesschau (German news program) reports on this regularly.
• If everything were to remain as it is, you would still be placing orders by paper fax, managing the warehouse system manually, conducting inventory manually, etc.
• Managed services offer predictable costs, while the costs of IT outages are unpredictable and often very expensive.

Comparison with other costs

Calculate the costs per employee (for corporate clients):

• What do you accomplish in the time you spend taking care of IT?
• Do you know what your current IT costs are?
• How much will three days of IT downtime cost you?

Your servers are outdated. But look at the modern company cars you have in your parking lot!

Highlight the added value of the services

• A personal contact person who is also available on-site if necessary.
• You no longer need to take care of your IT yourself.
• You as a customer will be given priority, treated the same as a private health insurance company.
• If the place does catch fire, then I won't be there so quickly. If there are problems, you'll have to wait.
• You are the expert in your field; we are the experts for your IT.
• Sometimes it's okay to say, "We're not doing that. It's all or nothing."„

• Compare specific figures from the past with future figures. For example, if a failure or disruption cost €5,000 last year, the contract with managed services will be significantly cheaper at €600 per year in the new scenario.
• Monthly fixed costs are predictable, but costs for unplanned outages and shutdowns are not.
• Lenders or insurance companies require well-thought-out and secure IT support; this earns points and often results in more favorable interest rates (rating).
• What does a system outage cost you per day/hour? How does that compare to the contract costs?

• Previously, the demands on IT weren't as high, so the old approach worked well. Now, the expectation of providing home office options has also increased. Can you keep up with that?
• Why do you have a mobile phone? We managed without one before. [Cost comparison with mobile phone contracts]
• How has the importance of IT developed for you in recent years?
• How did you write invoices, manage inventory, and plan projects back then? It's impossible without IT these days.
• What do you do if something malfunctions? How do you get your data back?
• The fact is: you appreciate managed services once you have them. The systems run more securely and reliably, allowing you to act proactively rather than just reactively, thus protecting you from unplanned downtime. Of course, you've never needed this before – but only because you weren't aware of it!

Comparison with a car

The garage reads your car data, our tool does the same. We're not stealing your data.

„"Antivirus protection is enough for me. It doesn't cost anything."“

• Which systems do you think are most frequently attacked?
• Unfortunately, the question is not whether They are attacked, but When.
• Should you entrust Microsoft with the security of your system? Microsoft is not a security system provider, but a software manufacturer and only releases updates for its own solutions.
• Manufacturers of security solutions constantly release security updates to ensure users are up to date.

„"As a private customer, I don't need that, I don't do much."“

• „"How much does a cup of coffee cost you a day? Not much. You could spend that same amount to ensure the security of your data."“
• Tip: If antivirus programs are about to expire, offer product packages (better virus protection, monitoring, and remote maintenance).
• Tip: Make antivirus software seem like a bouncer. If doors are left open, anyone with weapons can get in. But antivirus software isn't everything; patches are also very important.

A managed service provider assumes responsibility for the ongoing IT operations of its clients. Appropriate insurance coverage is therefore crucial. Many insurers now offer corresponding IT liability insurance.

On the client side, situations can often involve either short-term investment freezes or rapid growth – often unplanned. Short contract terms and flexible contract structures are very beneficial to the client in such situations. Even during periods of low change for the client, short contract durations signal confidence in the MSP's performance.

Offer customer packages

• Offer your customers packages instead of selling individual managed services that include the most important services, such as monitoring, patch management and antivirus.
  This gives the customer a security package they can rely on and the good feeling of having taken a big step towards the trouble-free operation of their IT.

• Offer individual managed services at a higher price than as a package, so that from the customer's point of view there is a price advantage with the packages.

• Offer your customers at least two managed services packages to choose from; you can then link remote maintenance to the more expensive package, for example:
  • „Basic package“: RMM; Patch management + antivirus
  • “Advanced Package”: RMM, Patch Management + Endpoint Security + Remote Maintenance

Remote maintenance can be billed separately and, if desired, combined with free minutes per month; it is only available with the Advanced package.
Our RMM already includes remote maintenance with Take Control, so there are no additional costs for you.

• You can expand the packages with additional managed services, such as email archiving or managed backup, to give your customers even more security for the smooth operation of their IT and to ensure a quick recovery of their data in case of emergency.

• For private customers, you can offer a managed services package including a certain number of free minutes per month (unused minutes cannot be carried over to another month). Private customers feel well looked after and, in our experience, rarely call.

Sell hardware

When selling new hardware, you can (only) offer it as part of a managed service package (minimum: basic package).

The advantage for the customer: They receive their hardware together with the managed services package and don't have to worry about anything else. Furthermore, this provides them with maximum cost transparency.

With SYNAXON Managed Workplace, you have the direct option to bundle new devices for your customers with our managed services and order them via EGIS.

Sell more hardware

Offer additional components such as managed firewalls or managed power.
Benefit for your customers: Increased protection against cybercrime and IT outages
The advantage for you: Apart from the installation, you don't have to worry about anything with these fully managed solutions.

That's great to hear. May I ask what the collaboration is like? Does he only respond when you contact him, or does he also reach out proactively before problems arise? Are there perhaps any aspects that, from your perspective, could be improved? If you'd like a second opinion, I'd be happy to help.

For some products, European alternatives exist. SYNAXON is already evaluating which ones are of interest and is in discussions to make them available in the Marketplace. This will give you access to solutions that are fully operated in Europe.

Companies required to keep accounts must comply with a multitude of regulations and laws. These include retention periods, formal requirements, and archiving guidelines. Among these are the principles of proper accounting (GoBD*). Compliance with these principles is to be examined during every tax audit (regardless of the auditing body).

In addition to legal certainty, our managed email archiving offers further advantages, such as the ability to quickly and easily find specific emails and the prevention of lost emails.

*Principles for the proper management and storage of books, records and documents in electronic form, as well as for data access.

According to law (GoBD), email archiving is mandatory. The penalties for non-compliance are certainly much higher.

How much time does it cost you (and your customers) to search for an old email? With our solution, you can easily and quickly access all archived emails. Plus, you can save mailbox space by automatically deleting old emails. Your Outlook (and your customers) will thank you!

Bundle your email archiving with M365 or your managed backup, then you won't get into price discussions.

No problem! Use it as a project with your client and benefit from full automation via Azure AD. Alternatively, archiving via IMAP import remains an option. However, in such cases, it's not fully compliant with GoBD regulations. Therefore, archiving is possible independently of the email system.

The responsibility for implementing the GoBD (Principles for the Proper Keeping and Use of Books, Records and Documents in Electronic Form and for Data Access) lies solely with the management. Sections 162 AO (German Fiscal Code), 283 StBG (German Tax Code), 280 et seq. BGB (German Civil Code), 241 para. 2 BGB, and 35 GewO (German Trade Regulation Code) together with Section 6 GmbHG (German Limited Liability Companies Act) contain numerous sanctions; therefore, management should carefully weigh the costs against the risks. As an IT service provider, we strongly recommend the use of appropriate technical measures to ensure GoBD compliance and are happy to advise on any technical questions.