Back-up specialist which went 100% channel this year, will roll out new partner deal with a difference in September Unitrends global channels boss Mike Dalton (below), talking to IT Europa, says that its full partner programme, set to be revealed in a couple of months, will avoid revenue targets and the traditional silver, gold, platinum structure in order to concentrate on lifting channel engagement frequency. The company has committed to becoming 100% channel, and he aims to develop a plan to drive business through channels and get them educated on what Unitrends offers.
Still a relative unknown in the business, the back-up specialist will also be expanding its sales teams and building out from its UK and DACH base. It has partners in every European country, he says, but as not needed to localise the product yet. With a strong offering in the mid-market, it has built up a good following in the education and government sector, but has no real vertical market dominance.
The point of the channel move is to enable it to concentrate on pushing through resellers, avoiding competition an the costs of setting up offices. “It is all about getting mind-share,” he suggests. “If we teach the partners to fish, we don't have to fish ourselves, but we also need to convince the customers that the reseller is a fisherman!”
The programme will aim to build brand awareness against multiple competitors, and grow the reseller base, using e-marketing, co-marketing and social media to convince customers and channels of the value. If he can get the 1000+ resellers who have made sales, albeit most of them a single instance, to up their transaction rate an give him 20% more business, he says he will be delighted.
With a cloud product just out in the US; Europe can expect a similar announcement some time soon as well.