CANCOM Simplifies Cloud Storage Sales and Management with Wasabi

CANCOM is a hybrid IT service provider headquartered in Munich, Germany. Founded in 1992, the Hybrid IT solutions and digital transformation leader employs more than 5,600 people operating across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and Slovakia. Six years ago, the company created the CANCOM Cloud Marketplace, a one-stop shop to simplify the procurement of a wide variety of cloud-based business services and applications. When more and more customers began asking for Wasabi cloud storage by name, the IT solution and service provider realized it needed to add the hot cloud storage company to its list of available cloud services. Since then, Wasabi has become a  rapidly growing component in CANCOM’s—and its customers’—success.  

Low cost and simple pricing model is attractive to customers 

While CANCOM provided a range of cloud storage options from hyperscalers, such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, it was ultimately the MSP’s customers’ end users that turned the company on to Wasabi. “The data storage offerings from the major public cloud providers can be complex, with multiple tiers of service and difficult-to-understand pricing that includes egress fees and more,” said Simon Russin, Director of the CANCOM Cloud Marketplace. “Our customers were telling us that their end users were demanding a storage option in the cloud that was easy to use, easy to understand, and with an easy pricing model that simplifies budget planning. They were asking for Wasabi.” 

Customers can now sign up on the CANCOM Cloud Marketplace and procure Wasabi as a standalone cloud storage service or as part of a larger integrated solution. “Ninety percent of those larger solutions are Wasabi storage combined with Veeam backup services,” said Russin.  

Easy to sell, expanded revenue opportunities 

“Wasabi is really simple and that’s probably the best thing about it,” Russin said. “You can explain the product to any salesperson or customer…it’s like a two minute introduction and they’re good to go.” And while Wasabi’s pricing was one of the main reason why customers were demanding Wasabi, it continues to be their number one selling point. “In that presale phase, it’s just a no-brainer,” Russin said. “You don’t have any price discussions because it’s already a great price for the customer. It’s already the best price in class.” 

Offering Wasabi cloud storage in combination with other solutions such as Veeam is also a lucrative scenario for CANCOM. “We are able to not only sell Wasabi, but also the Veeam licenses,” said Russin. “You can sell consultancy services like setting it up and configuring for the customer.” 

Simple to scale with Wasabi Account Control Manager 

CANCOM was an early adopter of Wasabi Account Control Manager, a multitenant management tool that automates storage account creation, management and user billing. “It’s really simple to use,” said Russin. “Being in a scalable business administrating a lot of different customers, it’s really the only option for us.” 

Russin said Wasabi’s simplicity and ease of management aligned perfectly with CANCOM’s marketplace approach, which is making cloud consumption and procurement as simple as possible.  “Without Wasabi Account Control Manager, we wouldn’t have been able to start that business because we have our wholesale agreement with reserve capacity, and then it’s divided into pieces for different customers. It would have been too complicated to manage without the easy-to-use graphical interface that automates and simplifies the management of multiple Wasabi accounts and users.” 

Integrated API creates seamless customer onboarding 

To further simplify the onboarding of Wasabi for CANCOM customers, Russin and the team developed a fully API-based integration from the CANCOM marketplace. Now, customers can effortlessly navigate the CANCOM marketplace, select Wasabi storage in a specific quantity, view associated pricing and terms, and complete the purchase. “In a fully automated and API based-manner, a Wasabi child account is created in the Account Control Manager, including setting a threshold for the storage procured,” said Russin. This automation allows CANCOM customers to purchase Wasabi within clicks and at scale.   

While CANCOM makes more than $1.3 billion in revenue annually, the Cloud Marketplace still has the spirit of a startup. “We have that startup culture and mentality, which we also see in Wasabi. Solution and partner relationships drive Wasabi, and we really like that.”