IronPort Systems

First, after founding the e-mail security company in 2000, Weiss and co-founder Scott Banister, both formerly at Hotmail, developed products to address the “interesting problems” related to e-mail security and scalability they’d encountered while at Hotmail. Next, they had to get in front of customers and researchers to spread the word about their offerings. Then, about a year and a half ago, the company began its channel efforts. IronPort’s offerings aren’t commodity products, so its relationship with the channel is critical, said Jim Hyman, director of worldwide channels at the company.

Today, IronPort has 80 partners in the United States and 200 worldwide. Last year, 25 percent of IronPort sales passed through the channel, and this year, the company is on target to hit 50 percent, Weiss said.

Currently, the company is drafting security-focused VARs that understand the gateway. “We’re continuing to select partners that have a track record of being security-focused and offering a high level of service to their customers,” Weiss said.

At the same time, he said IronPort must itself be a good partner because of the stakes involved for VARs that sign up to carry its product line. Very few of IronPort’s partners carry more than one product in this space, he said, so the commitment is very high. “We recognize that they’re banking their future on us. We take that very seriously.”

IronPort offers dedicated channel sales teams, training and certification programs, a lead-distribution program, communications on upselling opportunities and 24x7 support via its Web portal for channel partners. “As you grow, channel conflict becomes an issue,” Weiss said, “so the channel portal is a perfect way to maintain the relationship.”