Businessmodel of SolarWinds

Customer Segments

SolarWinds provides a range of enterprise software solutions to more than 250,000 commercial and institutional clients across multiple business sectors. The Company organises its core clients into the following principal categories:

• Commercial Enterprises, including small, medium and large commercial companies across multiple business sectors, including the financial services technology, and telecommunications industries;
• Managed Service Providers, comprising various information technology service providers and other technology companies that manage IT and communications systems on behalf of commercial clients; and
• Government, including municipal, state, and federal government bodies, as well as various public entities and agencies. SolarWinds provides solutions to a number of high-profile companies around the world. This notably includes PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kellogg’s, Procter and Gamble, and FedEx.

SolarWinds serves an extensive client base in its native US, as well as a number of international clients across the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe.

Value Propositions

SolarWinds provides value to its clients in the following ways:

• Its broad portfolio of products and solutions, with the Company offering clients a wide range of solutions that are designed to assist organisations across a variety of IT areas, including network performance monitoring, network configuration management, database performance analysis, and web performance monitoring;
• Its international sales reach, with the Company providing products and solutions to a large customer base that spans the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific, including an extensive customer base in its native US;
• Its proprietary technologies, with the Company utilising a range of proprietary technologies in the development and implementation of its solutions, making its service offerings unique within the IT services industry;
• Its network of partners, with the Company working closely with a broad network of partner companies and organisations that help to ensure that the Company’s solutions are effective, reliable, and efficient; and
• Its industry expertise and experience, with the Company employing specialist technical personnel across it various operating units, led by a team of experienced industry executives. ### Channels

SolarWinds operates a website at www.solarwinds.com, through which it provides information on its various products, solutions, and office locations. The Company does not operate an online sales portal. It does, however, allow customers to download software on a free trial basis directly form the Company’s website. SolarWinds also operates an online customer portal, through which customers can access products, tools, and resources, and offers mobile apps for iOS and Android devices.

SolarWinds primarily makes sales to customers through its in-house direct sales force, which is organised by geographic region. The Company’s sales personnel operate out of its network of regional offices across the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe, including regional headquarters in the US, Ireland, and Australia. Customers are able to contact the Company’s regional sales personnel over the phone or via email.

SolarWinds additionally makes a significant portion of its sales through a network of channel and distribution partners. This includes value added resellers, distributors, and independent software vendors.

Customer Relationships

SolarWinds does not sell its products and solutions to clients on a self-service basis. It does, however, allow customers to download software on a trial basis directly from its website, and operates an online customer portal, through which clients can access a range of products, tools, and resources without interacting with members of the Company’s sales and service personnel. The Company’s mobile apps can similarly be downloaded on a self-service basis.

SolarWinds makes the majority of its sales through its direct sales force. The Company’s sales personnel consult directly with clients to ensure that they are provided the most appropriate solutions and that, where possible, solutions are scaled and tailored to suit each client’s individual needs. SolarWinds seeks to establish longstanding relationships with its customers.

SolarWinds offers ongoing support to its customers, who are able to submit support request through an online contact form, or can contact the Company’s dedicated telephone support staff in order to receive personalised assistance. The Company also offers a range of online support resources – such as technical documentation, FAQs, videos, training guide, guide articles – that can be accessed independently through the SolarWinds website.

Additionally, SolarWinds operates social network accounts with platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn, through which its provides company updates and interacts directly with customers.

Key Activities

SolarWinds is a software and IT services company. It is engaged in the design, development, marketing, and sale of enterprise information technology and infrastructure management software solutions.

The Company provides a portfolio of solutions and services that allow commercial and institutional clients across multiple business sectors to monitor, manage, and analyse the performance and configuration of their network infrastructure, as well as to collect data for IT operations, security, and compliance management. SolarWinds is headquartered in the US, where its serves an extensive customer base. It also maintains a presence in markets across Europe and Asia Pacific, providing services to a range of international clients.

Key Partners

SolarWinds works closely with a network of partners that help the Company to ensure that its solutions are effective, efficient, and reliable. These partners can be organised broadly into the following categories:

• Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of services, equipment, and technologies that are utilised in the Company’s development and implementation of information technology and software solutions;
• Channel and Distribution Partners, comprising the Company’s network of value added resellers, independent software vendors, systems integrators, and distributors that assist in extending the Company’s sales and marketing reach;
• Technology and Development Partners, comprising a range of technology companies and IT service providers that support the Company’s development and implementation of effective solutions and assist in supporting its IT and communications systems; and
• Strategic and Alliance Partners, comprising market leading companies across multiple sectors with which the Company collaborates on various joint projects. SolarWinds has launched a number of partnerships in recent years. This includes partnerships with OpsGenie, Spire Solutions, Infinite Data, Mitsuiwa Corp, and CMS Distribution.

Key Resources

SolarWinds’s key resources are its proprietary technologies and intellectual properties, its software solutions and products, its IT and communications infrastructure, its sales and distribution channels, its partnerships, and its personnel.

SolarWinds owns a number of proprietary technologies that are key in the development and delivery of its solutions. Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified a number of patent applications which SolarWinds is named as assignee, including applications entitled ‘Node de-duplication in a network monitoring system’, ‘Progressive charting of network traffic flow data’ and ‘Method for summarizing flow information of network devices’.

SolarWinds additionally owns and or leases a number of physical properties around the world that comprise its network of sales and administrative offices.

Cost Structure

SolarWinds incurs costs in relation to the development of its technologies and solutions, the development and maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, the operation of its sales and distribution channels, the procurement of professional and technical services, the implementation of marketing and advertising campaigns, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.

Revenue Streams

SolarWinds generates revenue through the development and provision of software and information technology solutions to enterprises across multiple business sectors. The Company derives its revenue under sales and service contracts that are agreed on a client-by-client basis.

SolarWinds remains privately owned, and as such is not obliged to publish its financial results online. Research, however, identified reports that suggest that the Company generated full-year revenue of $504.1 million in 2015, up considerably on the $428.7 million recorded by the Company in 2014.