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According to Blue Coat solution providers interviewed by CRN, Usewicz and Daheb addressed Blue Coat's partner council on Friday to assure them of the same and that there was little reason to be concerned.
"My confidence level is strong and has been for a while," said Luis Palacio, senior director of vendor relations for FishNet Security, a Kansas City, Mo.-based solution provider. "I have seen more than enough from the CEO on down to know they're committed to working with the channel, so that's not a concern from our perspective."
Palacio said Blue Coat told VARs at its October partner conference in Miami that it would do a better job marketing itself as an infrastructure vendor -- one that can tie security, WAN optimization and cloud services together as a solution set rather than with a piecemeal focus.
Going private, Palacio said, allows Blue Coat to stay focused on that mission with fewer distractions.
"I think Blue Coat has done an effective job in their messaging -- less, 'we're a security company and we're going to dabble here' and more 'we see the market over the next few years and there's an opportunity for an infrastructure solution," Palacio said. "There's a good possibility that their competitors have underestimated them. Now that they have protection from the Street, it'll end up being a good solid story."
Dan Wilson, co-founder and vice president of partner alliances at Accuvant, a Denver-based solution provider, said he'd be surprised if Blue Coat changed course as a result of the acquisition.
"Their channel strategy has always been one we've been fond of, and they've done a good job balancing that with the technology," Wilson said. "Even prior to the news [of being taken private], their product strategy was crystallizing and the new management team they have seems to be tightening down."
Wilson said he was happy a decision had been made, following several months of acquisition and even hostile takeover bid rumors as Blue Coat's financial turmoil became public. VARs are curious as to whether Thoma Bravo will attempt to integrate its various IT security properties more tightly, Wilson said, but the feedback partners had received from Blue Coat was that that wasn't the plan.
Accuvant's Blue Coat sales are growing, and while the VAR is still mostly focused on Blue Coat's security products, it is gaining momentum with the WAN optimization offerings and also kicking the tires on Blue Coat's cloud-based security services, Wilson said.
"We're making some investments there," Wilson said. "It's not something we've fleshed out completely just yet but we talk a lot about it."
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