Why Choose NAKIVO

An MSP Guide to Building

BaaS Offerings in 3 Steps
Offering competitive and attractive backup services
requires careful planning and an understanding of your clients’
needs. Here are 3 steps to keep you on the right track and
ahead of your competitors.

www.nakivo.com
1
MSP Guide

Step 1:
Outline your service
While it is tempting to think about
BaaS as an all-encompassing service,
there are many variations to how it can
be delivered or what exactly it protects.
Clearly defining your BaaS can help
you set your clients’ expectations and
build trust in the long run.

Here are the key aspects to consider:

• What is the offered service model? Your clients should know up-front whether
they are getting a fully-managed or co-managed backup service. Deciding how data
protection responsibilities are divided between all involved parties is essential to avoiding
misunderstandings and data protection gaps.
• What is being backed up? There’s a considerable variety of what clients may need to back
up (Linux and Windows servers/workstations, VMWare vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V
VMs, enterprise applications, etc.). Make sure that your offerings are tailored to meet your
audience’s needs.
• Where are backups stored? Organizations might want to store their backups on-
premises, in the cloud, on dedicated hardware like NAS or on tape. Bonus points for
following the 3-2-1 rule of backups, which requires support for different types of storage
media. So make sure to cover at least two.
• How are backups recovered? No matter how smooth the backup process is, what matters
most is whether your clients can perform recoveries the way they want. The expectations
may vary from complete recovery to granular restore of certain files or application objects
to features like automated backup verification. By diversifying your offering, you can reach
a broader audience and provide more value to your clients.
• How is recovery tested? Your clients should know that you can reliably test your ability
to recover their data. To this end, ensure that your service level agreement (SLA) clearly
defines your approach to recovery testing, including the scope and frequency of testing.

2
MSP Guide

Step 2: Create
a pricing model
Once you have formulated the
strategic perspective of your BaaS,
next on the list is putting the right
price tag on it. Most clients need
only some of the provided services
and will expect a flexible model
that feels fair.

Select among the following pricing models for your BaaS offering:

• Fixed pricing. Under the fixed pricing model, your operational expenses can grow
as the client’s infrastructure scales, causing you to lose money.
• Pricing per workload. This pricing model allows you to adjust to the client’s changing
infrastructure by charging them per workload.
• Pricing per GB. Storage, bandwidth, support and other costs of running your business can
be perfectly reflected in this pricing model.
• Hybrid pricing. By combining the elements of one or several pricing models for some
clients, you can increase your profit margins.

The main operational expenses to account for are:

• Backup solution: Look for an affordable solution with a flexible pricing model that can
become a basis for your own pricing model.
• Hardware and infrastructure: The cost of operating and upgrading your BaaS hardware
and infrastructure should enter your calculations.
• Storage: This operational expense can vary greatly based on your clients’
choice of storage medium.
• Network bandwidth: Bandwidth consumption is a major spending category for MSPs.

3
MSP Guide

Step 3:
Pitch the value
With everything set up, your next
challenge is to convince an SMB to
actually subscribe to your service.
Backups are a fairly technical topic,
so make sure your pitch is more
convincing than it is confusing.

Resist the temptation of showcasing every feature in all its glory and focus on the value of
your offering:

• Availability: Any feature that enables fast recovery will appeal to any business that strives
to achieve smooth and uninterrupted operations.
• Data Protection: Backup storage tiering and multiple recovery points ensure that clients
never lose any critical data.
• Incident Response/Disaster Recovery: Recovery orchestration and scheduled testing of
backups is a key factor in reducing the adverse impact of disastrous events.
• Performance: The backup optimization techniques like deduplication and native change
tracking can free up resources and increase productivity.
• Administration: Make sure your clients get the degree of control they need with secure
isolated environments and role-based access control.
• Cost-Efficiency: Automation and reliable operation free up valuable resources and allow
redistributing them where needed the most.

By following these simple steps, you can create a service

that is both successful and efficient.

To learn more about choosing the pricing model and software for your service, attend
our free live webinar How to Deliver BaaS: Service Models and Essential Features.

www.nakivo.com