A business can have a reliable internet connection and still face serious disruption when its e-mail is unavailable, difficult to manage or exposed to malicious messages. From customer enquiries and invoices to contracts and internal approvals, e-mail carries information that businesses depend on every day.
Redwill ICT and South African cloud e-mail and cyber security provider SYNAQ are strengthening their partnership to help customers take a closer look at that critical part of their operations. The companies will work together on business e-mail, mail management and security offerings, with an initial focus on practical options for small and medium businesses.
The collaboration builds on an existing relationship between the companies. Redwill ICT has since expanded its reach through its broader ICT services and Opentel, its ISP division. That gives the partners an opportunity to speak with customers who already rely on Redwill ICT for connectivity or hosting, understand their e-mail requirements and recommend services that fit their businesses.
“E-mail is often treated as something that simply has to work in the background,” says Nicholas Reddy, CEO of Redwill ICT. “But when a business grows, or when a suspicious message reaches the wrong person, it becomes clear how much depends on getting e-mail and its security right. Our work with SYNAQ is about helping customers assess what they have today and choose a solution suited to their needs.”
Starting with the right mailbox set-up
One of the first areas the teams are developing is a set of CloudMail Lite mailbox bundles for businesses with smaller teams. The proposed ranges cover one to five, six to 10, and 11 to 20 mailboxes. The bundles are being structured for customers who want business e-mail without having to plan around a large organisation’s requirements from day one.
SYNAQ’s published CloudMail range includes options for different mailbox needs, from CloudMail Lite to larger mailboxes with additional collaboration and management features. This gives Redwill ICT room to discuss a customer’s current set-up, number of users and likely growth before recommending an option.
For an existing customer, that discussion may start with a review of their hosting and e-mail costs. For a new customer, it may begin with setting up e-mail for a business domain. In either case, the aim is to build an appropriate package rather than assume every business needs the same mailbox size or feature set.
The partners are still finalising the details of the new bundles. Pricing, availability and any promotional offers will be communicated once confirmed.
Bringing security into the conversation
Choosing a mailbox is only one part of the decision. Businesses also need to consider the messages entering and leaving their mail environment, who can manage that environment, and what happens when a threat or disruption occurs.
SYNAQ’s SecureMail service addresses e-mail security with protection against spam, viruses and identity-based threats. Its administration and reporting tools can help organisations manage their mail security and understand the threats they encounter. For businesses where e-mail is central to daily work, these capabilities can form an important part of a broader security discussion.
The partnership also creates scope to introduce customers to SYNAQ’s Mail Management offerings. These combine services such as e-mail security, archiving and continuity, with different options according to an organisation’s requirements. A business that already has a mail platform, for example, may want to examine how additional management and security services could support its existing set-up.
Redwill ICT and SYNAQ intend to take a consultative approach: establish how a customer uses e-mail, identify the gaps that matter to that customer, and then determine which services are appropriate. A small company setting up its first few business mailboxes will have different priorities from an organisation managing a larger volume of messages or more complex records.
A partnership built around delivery
A product offering is most useful when the people presenting and supporting it understand how it works. As part of the renewed collaboration, SYNAQ and Redwill ICT are arranging product and sales training for the Redwill ICT team. This will help the team explain the available services, guide customers through their options and handle practical questions about mail management and security.
The companies are also preparing joint customer information to make the offering easier to understand. That work will support conversations with existing Redwill ICT and Opentel customers, as well as businesses looking for a new e-mail solution.
“Our customers already come to us with questions about connectivity, hosting and the systems they use to run their businesses,” Reddy says. “This partnership helps us have a more complete conversation about e-mail: how it is hosted, how it is managed and how it is protected.”
“This partnership means Redwill’s customers get a genuine one-stop shop, connectivity and hosting alongside enterprise-grade e-mail security and management, without having to juggle multiple vendors,” says Lucas van der Merwe, Sales Manager at SYNAQ.
Further information on the proposed mailbox bundles and the security services available through Redwill ICT will follow as the roll-out is completed. Businesses that want to review their current e-mail environment can contact Redwill ICT to discuss their requirements.
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