Patchlink Seeks Partners’ Help In Targeting Verticals

The patch management vendor wants to step up its recruitment efforts in a wide range of verticals such as government and health care and is targeting security-centric resellers, systems integrators and outsourcing firms, said Chris Andrew, vice president of product management at PatchLink, Scottsdale, Ariz.

"We see that the value of the reseller business model is very real and see that there is a lot of appeal for our offerings horizontally," he said. "Now we want to dig deeper and penetrate verticals with our partners."

Partners would sell, implement, manage and wrap additional services around PatchLink's automated cross-platform patch management software, which specifically addresses viruses and worms. The most recent version, introduced this summer, includes Windows 2003 compatibility, customizable graphical reporting and rules-based administration.

In addition, the product assesses patch compliance by groups of computers, application or severity.

The tiered program includes a standard membership, which is a basic referral program. Gold and Platinum partners receive technical and sales training to become certified partners, co-marketing materials and events, and joint selling opportunities.

In addition, Platinum partners are expected to handle top-layer support and receive training to integrate other security offerings with PatchLink's to receive better discounts, said Andrew. "Our goal is to have all partners reach the Platinum level," he said.

Douglas Burkhardt, vice president of sales and client services at Annapolis, Md.-based International Computer Services, said his company is on its way to achieving Platinum status.

"There are inherent benefits to becoming a Platinum partner," said Burkhardt. "We'll enjoy a direct relationship at the technical level, our price points will be better and we'll be directly in the feedback loop, and based on our relationship so far they listen and react to our feedback."