BOSTON (April 15, 2008) – Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM), the global leader in information protection and storage services, today announced that its technology business unit, Iron Mountain Digital, has received accreditation under the MSPAlliance's (MSPA) Vendor Accreditation Program (VAP). VAP is the first program of its kind, specifically designed by managed service providers (MSPs) to benchmark vendors who either sell to or leverage the MSP community as a channel for their products and services. Vendors who bear the VAP seal have shown they abide by the highest principles of quality in areas such as financial stability, positive channel practices, product research and development, and MSP customer satisfaction.
“As data protection becomes increasingly important to the SMB market, MSPs look to technology vendors trusted by the broader MSP community to help expand their services portfolio to meet this growing demand,” said Charles Weaver, president of the MSPAlliance. “The de facto standard when it comes to corporate information protection, Iron Mountain’s inclusion in the Vendor Accreditation Program demonstrates the company’s continuous commitment to this important channel.”
VAP was created using a wide base of criteria considered critical by MSPs when selecting a vendor. Criteria examined during the accreditation process include:
• Business Practices: Focusing on channel development, channel competition safeguards, experience in the managed services industry, etc.
• Product Roadmap: Examining the vendor’s willingness to invest in their products in order to ensure relevance for the MSPs on a continued basis.
• Financial: Examination of financial stability to ensure adequate support of channel initiatives and product development.
• Client References: Vendor must provide at least three MSP specific client references.
The MSPAlliance, with more than 5,000 corporate members worldwide, is committed to increasing reliability and dependability in the industry surrounding the value and benefit of using managed service providers to provide a wide range of mission-critical services. In addition, the MSPAlliance collects data on the practice of managed services on behalf of its members, to help them increase the value delivery of IT to the organizations they serve.
“Earning the MSPAlliance’s seal of approval demonstrates Iron Mountain’s commitment to delivering high-quality data protection solutions and valuable channel support to its MSP partners to help them stand out in a highly competitive market,” said David Kubick, vice president of worldwide channels and alliances for Iron Mountain Digital. “By leveraging Iron Mountain’s trusted brand and infrastructure, our partners are able to develop new revenue streams and increase customer retention rates while providing award-winning data protection solutions relevant to the SMB market.”
MSPs who choose to partner with Iron Mountain can offer the company’s server and PC data protection services quickly, with no investment in infrastructure and the assurances that come from working with a vendor who has been partnering with MSPs since 1999. MSPs interested in learning more about partnership opportunities should visit http://www.ironmountain.com/partners/msp.asp
About Iron Mountain Digital
Iron Mountain Digital is the world's leading provider of software- and storage-as-a service solutions for backup and archiving. The technology arm of Iron Mountain Incorporated offers a comprehensive suite of data protection, archiving and intellectual property management solutions to thousands of companies around the world, directly and through a world-wide network of channel partners. Iron Mountain Digital is based in Southborough, Mass. with European headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.
About Iron Mountain
Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM) helps organizations around the world reduce the costs and risks associated with information protection and storage. The company offers comprehensive records management and data protection solutions, along with the expertise and experience to address complex information challenges such as rising storage costs, litigation, regulatory compliance and disaster recovery. Founded in 1951, Iron Mountain is a trusted partner to more than 100,000 corporate clients throughout North America, Europe, Latin American and Asia Pacific. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ironmountain.com.
About MSPAlliance
The MSPAlliance is a global organization made up of more than 5,000 managed service providers and service enabling technology vendors, who work in a collaborative effort to define, promote and educate the Managed Services Industry and the end-user consumer on the adoption and successful use of technology through Managed Services. The MSPAlliance is committed to increasing reliability and dependability in the industry surrounding the value and benefit of using Managed Service Providers to provide a wide range of mission-critical services. In addition, the MSPAlliance collects data on the practice of managed services on behalf of its members, to help them increase the value delivery of IT to the organizations they serve. For more information about the MSPAlliance please visit www.mspalliance.com/.
