NetScaler Offers Free Support, Rebate With Switch Purchase

The traffic management vendor, based here, is offering end users a year of free support and a trade-in rebate of up to $15,000 if they buy a NetScaler Secure Application Switch by March 31.

Alex Pearson, president and CEO of IS Systems, a San Antonio-based solution provider, said the rebate program has already brought in new business. "I was talking to a company that was very interested in NetScaler technology, but they already had a significant investment in F5 products," Pearson said. "When I told them about the trade-in rebate, it was enough of a difference to get the ball rolling."

That's the goal of the program, said B.V. Jagadeesh, NetScaler's CEO. The effort is designed to "get our channel partners in the door" of companies using competing solutions from F5 Networks, Nortel Networks or Cisco Systems, Jagadeesh said.

Customers that purchase NetScaler's RS9400 pair at $42,500 receive a year of free support, normally priced at $9,999, plus a trade-in rebate of up to $10,000, Jagadeesh said. Customers that buy the RS9800 pair at $70,000 get a year of free service, normally priced at $15,999, plus a trade-in rebate of up to $15,000, he said.

NetScaler's solution goes far beyond what load balancers provide, Pearson said. The switch saves on bandwidth costs and reduces the Web server's load by handling HTTP compression and SSL acceleration, he said.

What's more, the switch looks so deep within a packet that it stops worms such as Nimda and Code Red before they get in. "There is no other solution with all of these features in just one device," Pearson said.

Meanwhile, NetScaler is expanding its channel efforts, Jagadeesh said. In January, the company completed a $13 million round of venture capital funding, the bulk of which will go toward expanding its channel team, he said. NetScaler plans to hire 15 to 20 people, including new regional sales managers charged with recruiting solution providers and nurturing channel relationships, Jagadeesh said.