General DataComm Calls On Troops

The company, best known as a 30-plus-year-old supplier of network infrastructure to carriers, recently introduced a new channel program aimed at putting its line of InnovX routers, switches and access products into enterprise customers' hands via partners.

Under the new program, General DataComm plans to sell its InnovX lineup exclusively through solution providers, with plans to grow its enterprise business to account for as much as 50 percent of the company's revenue over the next two to three years, said George Best, vice president of sales and marketing at the Naugatuck, Conn.-based vendor.

While the products are new, some of the underlying technology isn't, benefiting from the company's legacy as a provider of carrier-class technology, Best said.

"The biggest deterrent to selling our products to the enterprise was price point. With these new products, we're able to overcome that," he said.

General DataComm hopes to attract VARs and integrators with a vertical focus on areas such as the financial and government markets, he said.

Solution providers that join the program can expect to make margins of 25 percent to 30 percent, and the company plans to implement a leasing program in the first quarter, he said. The company also offers a full range of professional services for partners to sell.

With General DataComm's InnovX line, partners can offer high-quality products at lower price points, said Ed Haack, president of Thomas Technologies, a solution provider in Rockwell, Texas.

"If telephone companies can use the technology, and they've been embedded with it for 25 years, it's good enough for my network," Haack said.