Solutions : Case Study : PartnerNet

Summary

• Client - MessageLabs
• Technologies - VBScript, ASP, IIS
• Budget - Confidential

Company Profile

MessageLabs is a Managed Service Provider (MSP) specialising in centralised Internet-level e-mail content filtering. MessageLabs' flagship product is the SkyScan Anti Virus Service that scans millions of emails every day and is sold through Internet Service Providers and other resellers to an international user base. MessageLabs' partners include UUNET, one of the world's largest ISPs, and users include BOC and Manpower.

The Problem

MessageLabs provides virus scanning services and handles millions of emails per day for tens of thousands of users, through a network of partners. These partners require a wide variety of information and documentation to enable them to effectively sell and promote the virus scanning service provided by MessageLabs. This information and documentation includes: news, events, exhibitions, advertising campaigns, press releases, sales collateral, training, technical support, etc.

It is vital that MessageLabs provides accurate, up-to-date information and documentation to their partners to enable them understand, sell and promote MessageLabs' products and services.

In the past, MessageLabs distributed information and documentation by post, courier, fax and email. This was cumbersome and time consuming, and some partners and users found it difficult to locate the required information and documentation.

The Solution

During the past year, MessageLabs has built a PartnerNet web site, based on Electrum's PartnerNet software, so that it can distribute information and documentation to its partners through an Internet portal.

All the resources, information and documentation are available from a web browser, so partners have access to up-to-date information and documentation 24 hours a day, from anywhere in the world: the office, home or a customer's office.

The information and documentation is password protected and can be downloaded by partners and users by simply clicking on a document name in a web page. The web pages contain information (automatically generated by PartnerNet) about the file so users can locate the right file for download.

The PartnerNet web site is also very easy to maintain. New information and documentation can be uploaded to the web site by anyone in the marketing, customer support or operations departments within MessageLabs, using a simple web browser interface.

The content and structure of the web site can also be changed using a web browser interface. Whenever changes are made, they are available to users immediately.

The navigation structure makes it easy for partners to locate documentation and information, but users can also search the entire contents of the PartnerNet web site: web pages and downloadable documents such as MS-Word and PDF files.

Downloadable documents can be customised by partners with their own logos. Partners simply upload their logos to the web site and PartnerNet automatically incorporates them into documents when they are downloaded.

Outcome

MessageLabs have found PartnerNet an invaluable sales and support tool with three key benefits:

• Very low-cost delivery of collateral, information and documentation to partners
• Delivery of accurate, up-to-date information to partners
• Low cost maintenance: the web site can be maintained by internal staff

The system has been in use for several months and both MessageLabs and their partners have found it an invaluable means of distributing and accessing collateral, information and documentation. The system contains 50 web pages and thousands of documents and images, all of which can be updated at any time by staff within MessageLabs.

MessageLabs plan to update the look and feel of the web site every 6 months. This is an easy task, as PartnerNet has been designed so that the web site look and feel can be changed, while leaving the underlying web site structure or content in place.