Exinda Networks Launches Revamped Reseller Program

Exinda's new Fast Track Reseller Program offers resellers a chance to boost their revenue by offering Exinda's line of network visibility and optimization appliances, along with consulting services and ongoing monthly services for centralized monitoring, reporting and adjusting network policies.

Stan Schreyer, Exinda's vice president of North American sales, said the Fast Track program is in response to the WAN optimization and application acceleration markets experiencing a significant upturn. Gartner estimates that the worldwide WAN optimization controller market will grow from $972 million in 2007 to $2.67 billion in 2012, creating a strong opportunity for resellers. Schreyer added that Exinda's sweet spot is in the midmarket, an area that most WAN optimization vendors fail to hit because of high price points and complex solutions.

"Everybody's got good products, and everyone has differentiators in their product," Schreyer said, adding that Exinda's closest competition comes from Packeteer. But in the midmarket, Schreyer said, Exinda offers price points that are 25 percent to 40 percent lower than most of the competition, making the solutions affordable for smaller companies not working with an enterprise-sized budget.

"We need to have a channel program that's really revamped," he said. "We're really focusing on those partners we want to engage. We asked partners: 'If you guys had your dream program, what would it be?'"

Schreyer said the Fast Track program was "designed by resellers for resellers. Everything is focused on making them successful."

Exinda's current offerings include: the x700 line of WAN optimization tools that include Layer 2 through Layer 7 monitoring, policy-based traffic shaping with QoS, compression, adaptive response, VoIP reporting and policy enforcement; the x800 family, which features the functionality of the x700 plus application acceleration, such as TCP and CIFS acceleration, WAN memory and caching; and the Service Delivery Point (SDP), a software as a service for centralized management and reporting of WAN optimization appliances through a Web browser that reports on key applications, performance statistics and resource utilization.

Exinda, based in Australia, is 100 percent channel focused and does not sell directly or through distributors, Schreyer said, ensuring that VARs will not have to compete in-house to sell solutions.

Erick Hill, president of AppSalute.com, a Goshen, Ky.-based solution provider, said he prefers partnering with vendors that are 100 percent channel focused, so he doesn't have to worry that the vendor will swoop in and hijack a potential account.

"That is a big piece of the pie for me," he said. "With some vendors there's always that risk of the vendor taking it direct"

The new Fast Track Reseller Program will have two tiers: Authorized and Premier partners. Schreyer said partners will receive WAN optimization training and certification; technical support; extensive support on customer evaluations; sales, marketing and lead generation support; deal registration; and margin enhancement opportunities.

Authorized Partners will have access to Exinda's partner portal, which offers access to tools and program information, and receive a monthly channel news letter. To maintain Authorized Partner status, resellers must participate in a minimum of four Web-based training sessions and meet a minimum revenue requirement of $10,000 per year.

Premier Partners are eligible for co-marketing initiatives. They also must develop a business and marketing plan, have engineering resources for implementation and provide pre-sales and post-sales support. Premier Partners must also achieve a minimum of $100,000 in annual sales.

Next: VARs Excited For New Program