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What's Enterasys' No. 1 message for partners?
"We're growing," said Charlie Van Pelt, Enterasys' director of channels and business development, North America. "We are actively and aggressively growing our business through our channels and through our alliance partners. That's what we're emphasizing."
Enterasys recently wrapped up a successful Americas Partner Conference, held earlier this month in Puerto Rico. On the docket, according to Van Pelt, was making sure partners understood that Enterasys' 2011 Advantage Partner Program -- which the vendor revamped in January -- is its most channel-friendly initiative yet, and Enterasys will attack opportunities with solution providers in three key areas: data center, wireless and physical security.
Of those areas, it's physical security, including IP surveillance, that'll be newest for Enterasys solution providers.
"It's a new area where we see a lot of things going on," Van Pelt said. "It's just beginning to kick in. It's really an old-school, analog-driven business and all of that is moving to IP -- all those big security installations. We're just at the tip of the iceberg in the way that's going to go."
When Enterasys started beating the physical security drum, Van Pelt said, it learned that a number of its existing networking and data center partners already had practices there -- and were excited about the possibilities.
"There are partners we have out there that didn't know we're getting into that space and have had some success in that area," he said. "We told them, 'We want to add your story to what we're doing and it's time we put all of that together.' They're on the forefront of the conversation."
Enterasys' physical security business will focus on infrastructure, and Enterasys plans to bundle its solutions with partner vendors specializing in areas such as surveillance cameras, door locks, digital signage and access control products.
Heading up Enterasys' physical security practice is Kevin Brooks who, like Van Pelt, joined Enterasys in January. The company has seen an influx of channel-facing executive talent in recent months, the most recent being Ram Appalaraju, vice president of marketing. Appalaraju joined Enterasys in April following 18 months as senior vice president of marketing for Meru Networks.
On the data center side of the business, where Enterasys is more entrenched, the company will continue to focus on the switches and other offerings that incorporate CoreFlow2, Enterasys' flow-based customer ASIC design. CoreFlow2, designed for establishing a flow between two devices and then assigning and enforcing policy based on that flow, was in early April introduced into lower-end Enterasys switching products for the first time.
Enterasys also maintains a healthy complement of wireless products, which were brought over from Enterasys part-owner Siemens Enterprise Communications and are now fully integrated into Enterasys' product portfolio.
"A lot of people have not known we were in the wireless space, and we heard that a lot at the conference," Van Pelt said. "Not only are we in that space but we're seeing a lot of growth in our existing channels."
NEXT: Enterasys' Vendor Alliances Will Help Channel
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