Softricity Revamps Channel Program, Targets Feds With VAR Partnership

The new program introduces an annual fee of $3,000 and formalizes the training requirements certified partners must meet, said David Greschler, co-founder and executive vice president at Softricity, based here.

"We've been out there now for about a year and a half working with partners, and we've just learned a lot about what they need from us and what we need from them," Greschler said.

Under the new program, Softricity partners must commit to training at least two engineers. Partners are also required to undergo extensive sales training and quarterly update training, Greschler said.

Previously, solution providers became Softricity partners as soon as they signed up to sell the vendor's SoftGrid application delivery and management platform. Now solution providers will have to complete the program's requirements before they are considered partners, he said.

Softricity partners with Microsoft and Citrix Systems, recruiting Citrix Gold, Platinum and Certified Consulting partners to sell its products through its channel-only sales strategy.

With SoftGrid, applications are centrally housed on the SoftGrid server and sent to the client device on demand in bits and pieces to be executed locally. Its SystemGuard technology keeps the applications from altering the registry of the server's operating system, eliminating software conflicts and enabling applications to sit on the same server that previously could not co-exist.

Softricity Monday also said Emergent OnLine (EOL), a Reston, Va.-based solution provider has joined its partner program and will add SoftGrid to its GSA schedule.

EOL, one of Citrix's top Platinum partners, is currently running Softricity pilot implementations in several government sites, said Paul Ghostine, CEO of EOL.

"The idea of rapid application deployment or seat management or server consolidation is very big [for government clients]," Ghostine said. "They're deploying [applications] to 20,000 users, and they want to reduce the number of servers they have."