
With competition heating up among Content Management System it should come as no surprise that leading CMS operators are looking to establish symbiotic relationships with hosting providers. The latest such partnership was announced today, as technology integrator Roundedcube and managed hosting provider Fpweb.net today announced a partnership with Kentico Software, the Web Content and Customer Experience Management provider, to offer customers a subscription service for the Kentico CMS platform and bundled managed hosting services.
The idea of bundling these services to provide customers get the ease of a SaaS subscription with IT and Infrastructure support and an award winning implementation partner. Roundedcube is known for user experience design, CMS implementation and complex systems integration. In the past, they chose Kentico as a recommended platform for their clients’ websites, but the new subscription model is expected to enable customers to save money when they sign up.
“There’s a lot of competition in the CMS space now, especially on the .Net platform, so price really does matter,” said Aaron Branson, VP of Marketing at Roundedcube. “By partnering with Fpweb.net and offering our clients a subscription service, we can reduce the big cash layout for a CMS software license and hardware that can keep Kentico’s cutting-edge technology out of reach for smaller businesses. With a subscription model, a mid-sized customer can get enterprise features with bundled managed hosting for a fixed monthly cost. I foresee credit unions, law firms and other smaller businesses without dedicated IT support benefiting greatly from this offering not to mention organizations preparing for any upcoming changes to on-premise SharePoint offerings.”
Fpweb.net’s Director of Channel and Alliances Jill Kunkel had this to say about the offering, “We’re excited to partner with Roundedcube to create a polished Kentico offering that not only helps customers optimize their website’s customer experience management but also provides the hosting and support necessary to move their business forward.”
“It’s important to choose the solution that’s right for your web project, but success also depends on the skills and expertise of the companies that deliver your website,” said Pavlina Mahovska, Channel Marketing Manager at Kentico. “Through this partnership, we are sure that the end users of our product will be provided with top-level professional services.”
Though these types of partnership are often the fist step towards what ultimately becomes a company merger or all-out acquisition, neither party made any mention of currently expanding beyond this initial joint venture.