WebProNews

Tag: VARs

  • GoDaddy Hits AppDirect For Office 365 Domain Offerings

    GoDaddy announced that it is now live on AppDirect so small businesses can add custom domain names when purchasing Office 365 in AppDirect-powered marketplaces.

    With the news, service providers and VARs on AppDirect can provide domain names and email addresses to small businesses as part of the Office 365 purchase experience.

    “Owning your digital identity is important to individuals and businesses,” said GoDaddy Chief Product Officer Steven Aldrich, who is a keynote speaker for the AppDirect Partner Summit later this year. “Now that GoDaddy is on the AppDirect platform, customers can quickly add custom email addresses to their Office 365 accounts. This gives them a professional email address which increases prospects’ willingness to do business with them and the business owner can also use their domain name for a website or social presence.”

    “AppDirect has always focused on helping businesses find, buy and manage the software they need to thrive,” said Richard Dufty, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Customer Success and Alliances. “Allowing our partners to sell GoDaddy domains with Office 365 helps them create better and more lasting relationships with their business customers, who gain access to the applications they need while growing their online presences.”

    GoDaddy says it will also be offering standalone domain name registration in the near future, but didn’t specify beyond that.

    Image via GoDaddy (Facebook)

  • SanDisk Launches Enterprise Partner Program For VARs

    Earlier this month, SanDisk announced a new Enterprise Reseller Partner Program, which provides new support, resources, and rewards for qualified VARs of its enterprise solutions. The aim, according to the company, is to enable VARs to develop and nurture new business opportunities and close deals more quickly.

    The program is available for SanDisk Commercial Business Channel partners, which resell SanDisk hardware and software data center soluions like its CloudSpeed SATA solid state drives, Optimus SAS SSds, FlashSoft caching software, and PCIe app accelerators.

    “Flash technology is transforming the datacenter by delivering better performance and increasing operational efficiencies,” said Ken Oberman, VP of worldwide business channel sales at SanDisk. “Our channel partners play a critical role in bringing SanDisk’s trusted enterprise storage solutions to a range of customer environments. This program is part of SanDisk’s strategic effort to provide resellers with a host of resources to help expand their opportunities.”

    It’s a tiered program with tiers reflecting the commitment levels of partners. It offers access to a web-based partner portal, which points to tools and assets customized for each partner’s level and role. SanDisk says these things help partners find the best people to work with. It also provides access to a series of education and training programs to give partners more insight into selling SanDisk solutions successfully. These programs include certification goals.

    The program also offers rewards like the ability to get marketing development funds to assist with marketing activities and drive new business. SanDisk offers a deal registration program and a Volume Incentive Rebate for targeted resellers, who hit certain volume-based goals.

    SanDisk has had a global “Premiere Partner Program” since 2013. The company says its new program is a complement to that. It counts 110 partners as part of the program.

    Image via SanDisk

  • Gigamon Launches Enhanced VAR Partner Program

    Gigmon, creator of Visibility Fabric announced the launch of a new worldwide channel program rewarding VAR partners. It includes incentives and financial benefits, sales, technical certifications, sales enablement tools, and access to marketing resources.

    The company is going for a “deeper and stronger” commitment to channel partners, and aims to reward those working closely with it to build “successful practices” around its visibility and security solutions.

    “Our channel partners are a valued extension of our Gigamon sales force,” said Gigamon CEO Paul Hooper. “As our market continues to develop, our enhanced VAR Partner Program will enable participating channel partners to leverage Gigamon’s differentiated technology with existing and future customers to support their evolution to the next generation business infrastructure.”

    “Partners are key to establishing scale and vital to Gigamon’s operations,” added Gigamon Vice President of Worldwide Channel Sales, Scott Sullivan. “We’ve been listening to our partners and have evolved our program as an expression of our ongoing commitment to their success. We will continue to enhance the program to provide partners with access to our expertise and new opportunities in this high growth market.”

    Gigamon says its program has already been well received by key industry experts and analysts.

    Kevin Rhone, Director of ESG’s Channel Acceleration Practice, said, “Solution Providers are adapting to transform their businesses today to match changing IT consumption models, and look to vendors to help them as they expand beyond their traditional comfort zones. Gigamon’s new Partner Program comes with a significant commitment of people and resources on the part of the company to engage, support and reward those partners who invest to grow their Gigamon business. In our view, the redesigned package of financial rewards are set up in just the right way to motivate partner investment in developing the same technical, sales and services skills that are critical for growth and partner profitability. Gigamon partners should be very excited!”

    More on the program here.

  • SentinelAgent Launches New Prime Program For VARs

    Cloud-based Windows monitoring system SentinelAgent is now offering a PRIME partner and referral program for MSPs and VARs specializing in network managed services.

    SentinelAgent says it aims to transform how SaaS resellers and referral agents work with their vendor partners to maximize profit and eliminate channel conflict.

    “We’re a channel-centric sales organization with years of partnering experience,” said CEO George Melas. “We knew we couldn’t only rely on the merits of our unique cloud-based RMM system (Remote Monitoring and Management) to succeed – we also had to make it easy for our partners to achieve certification, pursue marketing initiatives and fulfill orders with best-in-class support.’

    “Our partner program is a reflection of our software; powerful and dynamic,” he added. “It’s not always easy, but that’s the way it has to be in an industry where peak performance in all facets of the supply chain is not just expected, it’s demanded.”

    “We’re kicking off an aggressive partner recruiting campaign to find 30 qualified MSPs/VARs in major U.S. and Canadian cities who provide network resource support to their customer base and are looking for a feature-rich, budget sensitive solution with no physical location limitations,” said Ken Beam, Director of Alliances.

    “This is one of those rare opportunities,” he added. “SentinelAgent has the most exciting co-branded marketing capabilities I’ve experience in over 30 years of managing Channels.”

    Inaugural SentinelAgent PRIME partners will automatically be enrolled in the ‘SentinelAgent PRIME Advisory Council’.

  • VAR Guy: VARs Can Make FOSS Better For Enterprises

    Univa put out the results of a survey indicating that 75% of enterprises encounter problems when using open source software.

    The biggest gripe is a lack of enterprise-grade support , with 27% of respondents raising this as their top concern. Other issues: usability (24%), maintenance (20%), crashes (19%), bugs (18%), downtime (16%), loss off productivity (16%) and interoperability (16%).

    According to the survey, 64% are willing to pay for better quality, with the following listed as reasons to do so: Stability (25%), Enterprise-grade support (22%), Ease of use (20%), Extra functionality (18%), Bug reports/fixes (15%), Integrated solution (13%), Product upgrades (13%), and Predictable lifecycles (13%).

    “We have always said that users are willing to pay for quality when it comes to Open Source software, and the results of the survey have confirmed as such,” said Univa CEO Gary Tyreman. “A large number of organizations use Open Source Grid Engine as a key ingredient in product development, but as the company grows they can’t afford to rely on unsupported Open Source Grid Engine. That is when they can turn to us for peace of mind, scalability and reliability provided by our team and proven Univa Grid Engine.”

    Christopher Tozzi (“The VAR Guy”) thinks some of the areas of concern for enterprises are places where VARs can step up.

    “These [ software stability problems, bug reporting troubles and unpredictable product lifecycles] are all classic criticisms of FOSS, and there is a limit to the extent to which third-party solutions can address them without being able to change the behavior of independent open source projects,” he writes. “Yet several of the other problems with FOSS that the respondents cited are a VAR’s dream, since they represent places where third-party vendors can very feasibly add recognizable value to FOSS solutions. These include improving ease-of-use, providing extra functionality and integrating FOSS into broader solutions.”

    “The message for the channel, then, seems clear,” he concludes. “Open source is a crucial part of the operations of most enterprises today, yet those enterprises are willing to pay to make their FOSS experience smoother. And the opportunities for VARs to do so are rich, as long as they are able to home in on the specific areas where organizations demand better service.”

    An infographic with data from the survey can be found here.

  • A Successful Transition From VAR To Cloud Service Provider

    Trustmarque, a “VAR turned service provider” thinks VARs need to up their game in services to succeed in the cloud computing world, according to a report from ChannelBiz.

    The publication quotes CEO Scott Haddow:

    The successful transition from reseller to cloud service provider was the result of a strategy to invest in people, said Trustmarque CEO Scott Haddow. “Investment in people and our service proposition has led to progress in a challenging market,” he said.

    A managed services strategy was the key to sustained growth of the business, he said. Last year the company headcount expanded by 21 percent as the company introduced a wider range of cloud services, including asset management and procurement in addition to shoring up its enterprise applications. Trustmarque’s gross profit for services and solutions was £7.1 million, a 45 percent surge in overall business gross profit for the year.

    Trustmarque reported its annual results for the year ending August 31 on Wednesday. These included a 9% growth in profit before tax (from £4.6m to £5.0m), gross profit growth of 15% (from £13.8m to £15.9m) and an increase in turnover from £115 million to £131 million (representing 14% growth).

    According to the company, this further extends the “most successful” period in its 25-year history. in the earnings release, Haddow makes statements similar to those shared by ChannelBiz:

    “Following the strategic transformation of previous years, investment in our people and our service proposition has led to further progress in a challenging market environment, and our financial results for the Year 11/12 underline this success.”

    He closed the release, saying, “It’s fair to say that we have never been stronger in our twenty-five year history. Recognition as Services Provider of the Year, an Investor in Customers and one of the Best Companies to Work For will, along with our financial results, make this a landmark year,” said Haddow. “Our priority remains our customers, helping them to achieve efficiencies and business value through their technology investments. It’s our success in adding value and making a real difference which will ensure we continue to build on our success in the years ahead.”