Syncsort Sets Channel Program For Data Protection Software Resellers

Data protection and data management software developer Syncsort has launched a channel program to expand sales of its BEX data protection software and related MVP (migrate, verify and protect) services.

Syncsort, which sells a range of data processing, data integration and data protection and recovery products, said the new program expands its commitment to the channel. While the company has been working with about 50 partners who resell the BEX product, the company hasn't taken a strategic approach to the channel until now, said CEO Flavio Santoni.

"We really needed to raise the bar on our commitment, our execution and our programs for the channel," Santoni said in an interview.

The company is rolling out the Partner Edge Reseller Program in stages worldwide beginning with the BEX (short for "Backup Express") data protection software and its related services. About 90 percent of data protection products industry-wide are sold through the channel, so focusing Syncsort's initial channel efforts on the BEX line is a no-brainer, said Mike Kuehn, Syncsort's director of channel sales for the Americas.

"We really see the channel as our go-to-market strategy for our data protection technology," Kuehn said in an interview. He said the BEX products would be sold exclusively through the channel, eliminating any potential for channel conflict. The company is adjusting its compensation plan for its sales representatives to encourage them to work with channel partners, he said.

Kuehn said Syncsort is particularly recruiting resellers who specialize in data storage solutions and can sell the BEX data protection software in conjunction with virtualization technologies, network appliances, and disaster recovery and data de-duplication systems.

Peak Resources, a Denver-based solution provider, is a NetApp channel partner and is reselling BEX along with NetApp systems to mid-market customers. "That's what really drew me to the product," said Jeff Okeson, a consulting storage systems engineer at Peak Resources, of the NetApp-Syncsort link. The Syncsort product works well for disaster recovery testing and services and for physical-to-virtual system migration, he said.

Okeson said Peak Resources' sales representatives recently attended Syncsort bootcamp training. "The more we know about the product, the easier it is to sell it," he said.

The MVP services are specifically geared toward helping resellers guide customers as they migrate data and applications from physical to virtual environments. "We have, we believe, some very unique capabilities that customers can use to address some of the pain points they have as they move into the virtualization world," Flavio said.

The new channel program will have three tiers: Authorized, Select and Elite, with resellers qualifying for each tier according to their sales volumes and their technical qualifications and accreditation. The program will offer training and post-sales technical certification, pre-sales tools and demonstration materials, market development funds, deal registration through the iSync portal, and other services.

Flavio said Syncsort has no numerical goal for the number of resellers it plans to recruit for the program, but he said the company doesn't want to over-distribute its products. "We want to create some uniqueness for the partners," he said. The company intends to evolve the program over time based on feedback from partners, he said.

Tweet

   

More Channel Programs