Starting April 25, 2019, partners have the opportunity to get early access (Early Access) to the platform Acronis Cyber Platform. This is the first stage in the implementation of a program to form a new ecosystem of solutions, within which companies around the world will be able to use the Acronis platform to integrate cyber protection services into their products and solutions, and also get the opportunity to offer their own services to the global community through our future marketplace. How it works? Read our post.
Acronis has been developing data protection products for 16 years. Now Acronis is transforming from a product-oriented company into a platform company. What does this mean in practice? The Acronis Cyber Platform becomes the basis for providing any of our services.
All Acronis products, from backup services to protection systems, work today on the basis of a single Acronis Cyber Platform. This means that with the continued growth of data volumes, the shift of computing towards Edge and the development of smart devices (IoT), important information can be protected right on the device itself or inside the application. To do this, it will be enough to use ready-made tools that Acronis will offer developers in the fall of 2019. In the meantime, you can get early access to the platform for a "closer acquaintance" with its architecture,
The platform approach continues to gain momentum around the world, and the platforms created earlier allow today to receive additional opportunities (and profits) for both their creators and partners. So, one of the most popular platforms is SalesForce.com. Launched in 2005, it currently offers one of the largest AppExchange marketplaces, with over 3 registered apps as of early 000. But the main thing is that the company and its partners receive more than 2019% of their profits through the operation of the marketplace and joint solutions based on open APIs.
How deep should the integration be?
We believe that integration can bring different results at different levels, but even a small movement towards interoperability between products allows you to create new solutions and simplifies the life of end users. We at Acronis use five levels of integration of our own product lines. For example, at the level of marketing and sales, it becomes possible to create product sets and offer them to customers at more favorable conditions.
Next comes the level of integration of user interfaces, when the client gets the opportunity to manage multiple products through the same window, without configuring common settings.
After that, we move on to the unification of management. Ideally, you should create a single management console for all products. By the way, this is exactly what we plan to do for the entire set of Acronis solutions within the Acronis Cyber Platform.
The fourth level is the integration of products, when individual solutions get the opportunity to exchange information with each other. For example, it's good when the backup system can "talk" with ransomware protection and prevent attackers from encrypting backups.
The deepest level is technological integration, when different solutions work on the same platform and can offer the user the most holistic service. By referring to the same libraries, we get the opportunity to create an ecosystem of solutions that will complement each other and be fully compatible to solve the problems of the end user.
Acronis Cyber Platform goes open
By announcing Early Access to the Acronis Cyber Platform, we give partners the opportunity to get acquainted with our services, so that after the official presentation of the platform, it would be easier to integrate them with their own developments. By the way, in this direction we have been working with major partners such as Microsoft, Google or ConnectWise for a long time.
Already today you can apply and get early access to Acronis Cyber Platform to evaluate the possibility of sharing your services and developments from Acronis
To interact with the platform, a whole set of new open API libraries and SDK development kits has been developed, which will help to integrate Acronis solutions into finished products of other companies, as well as offer their own developments to the entire Acronis user community (and this is neither more nor less than 5 customers). , over 000 business customers and over 000 partners).
- Management API is the main library that will allow you to automate the work of services, as well as set up billing for the use of Acronis services in partner solutions.
- Services API - allows you to use or integrate Acronis Cyber Platform services into third-party applications.
- Data Sources SDK - Help developers secure more data sources. The toolkit will provide tools for working with cloud storage, SaaS applications, IoT devices, and so on.
- Data Destination SDK is a special set of tools that will allow independent developers to expand the range of data storage options for applications on our platform. You can, for example, write data to Acronis Cyber Cloud, private clouds, public clouds, local or software-defined storages, as well as special arrays and devices.
- Data Management SDK was designed to work with data and analyze it within the platform. The tools contained in the set will allow you to transform data, search and compress, scan archives and perform many other actions.
- Integration SDK is a set of tools that will help you integrate third-party developments into Acronis Cyber Cloud.
Who benefits?
In addition to the fact that having an open platform is (obviously) beneficial to Acronis itself, open interfaces and off-the-shelf SDKs will help partners generate additional revenue and add value to their products by integrating Acronis services.
One notable example of partnership with Acronis is ConnectWise, which has gained access to advanced integration options. As a result, each quarter, ConnectWise partners' work with Acronis products generates more than $200 through access to more than 000 partners for backup and other Acronis services.
New APIs and SDKs, which are currently in the final stage of development, will allow integration with the platform at a technological level, providing on-demand services. These initiatives are aimed at ISVs, service providers and integration partners who are interested in offering their customers the highest level of service at the lowest cost.
For example, features such as scanning for malware or vulnerabilities in a backup, checking the integrity of copied data, automatically creating a restore point before installing patches, automatic protection based on "threat intelligence" technologies can be provided directly within the software product. That is, when purchasing a CRM service or a ready-made ERP system, the user can apply the already built-in protection tools based on Acronis technologies - simply, conveniently and without leaving the application.
Another level of integration is provided for in-demand services that could benefit the entire Acronis user ecosystem. For example, Acronis does not have its own VPN in its portfolio, and therefore it can be assumed that such services will appear on the marketplace after the official launch of the platform. In general, any development that will be in demand by a wide audience can be integrated with Acronis Cyber Platform and will be provided to end users and partners in the form of ready-made services.
Waiting for autumn
The official presentation of Acronis Cyber Platform will take place on Florida, as well as at the regional summits in Singapore and Abu Dhabi in September and December. Training and certification for working with the new platform will take place at such events. However, developers interested in using Acronis services can get started with the platform today by requesting test access and support here.
In the meantime, we will prepare a detailed story about the new APIs and SDKs, as well as the methods and principles of working with them.
Poll:
Only registered users can participate in the survey. , you are welcome.
Assuming that you will be working with Acronis Cyber Platform, you would like to take advantage of:
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Acronis services in your product
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Create product and solution bundles
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Offer your products to Acronis partners and customers
Nobody has voted yet. 4 users abstained.
Source: habr.com