SilverBack's Channel Program Paying Off
In December 2001, SilverBack ditched its MSP strategy in favor of an ISV approach with solution providers selling and implementing its software.
The new partners have generated $250,000 in sales so far for the network, system and application monitoring software company and expanded SilverBack's reach into other countries. By the end of 2002, SilverBack expects to have 45 partners in North America selling and implementing its software, said Jim Hare, vice president of business development at SilverBack.
"Our partners are the face to the customer. They control the account and they charge whatever they want for the service," Hare said. "We are not just providing the technology, but an entire program around our partners."
SilverBack has developed guides on pricing, packaging and selling its InfoCare software and services. The company will also step in to help partners roll out a service and train them to implement it themselves.
SilverBack also addressed flexibility issues. Its requirement of purchasing a minimum of 100 devices per customer has been lifted and partners now can use InfoCare to monitor as few devices as they choose.
Based on partner feedback, Hare said SilverBack is also refining its software. The new version should be available in the next few months, he said.
Soon-to-be-announced partnerships include ones with Business Engineering and Nova. Vedas is slated to become a SilverBack partner this month, and partners unveiled in recent weeks include Coasin, Costa Rica; NOX, Japan; and CGNet, Menlo Park, Calif.
Vedas, a 12-year-old systems integrator, has been using Hewlett-Packard's OpenView to monitor its customers' network components and devices. But not every customer can afford the OpenView solution, which led Vedas to SilverBack.
"[SilverBack's product gets you very close to the functionality of the more expensive products, but the cost keeps it within reach of our customers," said Kannan Chidambaram, president of Vedas, Bedford, Mass.