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Channel Support

Overview​

Atria enables Service Providers to efficiently deliver complex hosted services via channel-based business models. This allows Service Providers to focus on scalable and reliable technical hosting, while empowering partners to sell and support end-customers with minimal assistance from the Service Provider.

Example Scenarios:​

  1. Service Provider > ISV > End Customer > End Users

    • Single tier: The Software Provider offers hosted desktop applications directly to end-customers, the Service Provider may provide a similar service for many ISVs.

  2. Service Provider > ISV > Channel Partner > End Customer > End Users

    • Two tier: The Software Provider hosts with an ISV and works through the ISVs partner channel to sell and support applications. This is a common scenario for financial software where implementation/support partners typically support the end-customer.
    • The Service Provider can focus on the infrastructure and delivery of the ISV software
    • The ISV can focus on developing, maintaining and marketing their Software
    • The ISV Partner can focus on implementing and supporting customers with the ISV software.
    • The End Customer can focus on their business.

  3. Service Provider > Channel Partner > End Customer

    • Direct: The Service Provider enables smaller providers to resell services. For example, a Service Provider could host legacy applications for smaller IT support organizations. This model is often similar to scenario 2, often Managed Service Providers become specialists in vertical markets.

    Example: Accountant or CPA firms.

    • Service Provider : Hosts the platform that delivers finance applications.
    • Reseller : In this case, the Accountant/CPA is a reseller of the service.
    • Customer : the Accountants Customers consume the finance application

    Through this model, the Accountant can be configured to have secure access to their Customers Application data, meaning that they can provide better support and compliance services to the end Customer.

Reseller Tiers​

While reseller levels typically do not go beyond three tiers, there are no technical limits on the number of levels that can be supported. These levels can provide segregation of permissions within larger organizations or accommodate the needs of businesses operating across multiple time zones or regions.

This structure can be thought of as a Parent-Child relationship, allowing for flexible modeling of complex and challenging business scenarios through configuration. For example, a parent IT company might have multiple child companies acting as resellers, or a Managed Service Provider (MSP) could offer hosting services to Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).

It’s worth noting that the term “reseller” within the platform does not exclusively refer to traditional resellers. For some clients, the hierarchy might represent a parent company and its subsidiaries rather than a reseller model. The platform’s terminology is adaptable to various use cases, making it versatile for diverse organizational structures.

Branding​

Atria supports the creation of custom brands, allowing Service Providers to modify the look and feel of the portal. By default, customers inherit the brand associated with their reseller, which is displayed after authentication.

DNS Brands allow the portal to be branded based on the hostname. To set this up, DNS records must be configured to point to the Atria web server. Once configured, when customers access the portal via the specified hostname, the customized brand will be displayed. This allows Resellers to set up their own branding, and even Customers can easily configure the portal to match their own corporate brand.

For more information on branding, navigate to: Brand Management.

Reseller Admin Functions​

By default, resellers are granted rights to access pages that allow them to list, view, and edit customers. Users with the Reseller Admin role can:

  1. List all sub-customers in a flat format.
  2. View their customers in a hierarchical structure.
  3. Use spotlight search across all sub-customers and their users.
  4. Enable or disable entire customers with a single click.
  5. Create users within sub-customers and assign or change their services.
  6. View billing and usage data for sub-customers.

Roles can be reconfigured and adjusted as required.