D-Link's Tidd: We're Way More Than 'The Guys With The $99 Router'

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The way Nick Tidd sees it, D-Link is a great brand with a marketing problem.

"People are sometimes shocked at both the depth and breadth of the product portfolio," said Tidd, who last week was named president of D-Link North America after eight months as its channel chief. "D-Link globally, for example, is the No. 2 provider of Gigabit Ethernet ports shipped worldwide, second only to Cisco. But people still see D-Link as 'those guys that do the $99 router.' "

In an interview with ChannelWeb.com, Tidd said his aim is to grow D-Link's presence with the help of a loyal channel and a revamped partner program and finally establish D-Link as a force to be reckoned with

If D-Link's channel is to grow, Tidd said, it has to fix both the way it markets and brands its portfolio and how it rewards loyal channel partners. Channel messaging has been a big issue for D-Link in the past, as has direct-indirect sales force conflict.

Tidd, a practiced hand in the segment thanks to his long stint at 3Com, moved into the channel chief role at D-Link in May 2009. He first came to D-Link the previous August to run Canadian operations, following his exit from 3Com, then in turmoil, in March 2008.

According to Tidd, he's spent much of the past year trying to determine why D-Link couldn't gain a better foothold in the contentious networking market.

The products are there, he believes, as is the value.

"My challenge is to translate that value proposition to the enterprise," he said. "The feedback from the partners has been a lack of consistency in our channel strategy, vis-a-vis that value prop. We're coming out with a new partner program in the springtime that's going to resonate well with partners. My philosophy for channel architecture is that if you don't seek the guidance of your partners, you're a dead channel walking. The nice thing about D-Link is that the products are already there. It's a great place to be as opposed to a tarnished brand or a brand with no visibility."

As he continued to engage with more D-Link partners, Tidd said he found more that needed to be done with the D-Link partner program. That's why it has been delayed until spring 2010, even though Tidd had previously told ChannelWeb.com and D-Link's channel to expect an unveiling in the fourth quarter of 2009.

"There's absolutely a reason [for the delay]," he said. "Partner feedback was to 'make it intuitive. Make it tailored to me, and the information tailored to me.' We could have gone to market with our existing portal, but to me, that did not meet the requirements or the flexibility we needed. 'Partner portal' is an overused word. We took the opportunity to do a major IT overhaul."

The partner portal and much of D-Link's channel outreach will be on a Salesforce.com platform, he said. Among other resources, he's also spent time hiring new channel managers. The new partner program will have tiered levels of partnership with specified rebates, rewards and benefits for more business done with D-Link.

"Partners want us to solidify our message to the market," Tidd said. "They're still going in and having customers say, what's the difference between what I can get from you vs. what I can buy at OfficeMax?"

Along with better branding and marketing, Tidd is also promising focused partner programs that help VARs take a consultative approach to vertical markets -- designing solution bundles specific to hot markets like health care, for example.

"I need delivery partners that are segmented," Tidd said. "My message is: Let me help you sell the technology before you sell the brand."

The time is right for a full-court channel press, Tidd said, based on ongoing consolidation in the industry and disruption among other partner communities.

"The market right now has me tickled. This is a perfect storm for us," he said. "It's clear why HP bought 3Com, for example: They wanted China and they wanted H3C. That's going to take a while to process and they're going to sit and spin internally for a while. Their partner community is a target. I see the Avaya road map laid out with little traditional emphasis on the Nortel enterprise base. Their partner community is a target. And Cisco? You see the contraction of margins and the arrogance of their channel organization putting a sour taste on some partners. Their partner community is a target."

Partners also see confusing messages from some of the bigger titans, Tidd said.

"HP, Cisco and Juniper are all duking it out in the data center," he said. "But there's more than just the data center out there. You have aging infrastructure, the demands of wireless pushing bandwidth upgrades ... again, this is a perfect storm for upgrading beyond just a core data center."

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