CRN Exclusive: Performance Monitoring Provider cPacket Networks Launches Channel Partner Program

Network performance monitoring provider cPacket Networks is unveiling its first official channel partner program, cChannel, and is calling for "trusted advisers" to join.

cPacket, a provider that sells exclusively through the channel, has been working with systems integrator and VAR partners in a "haphazard" fashion since the company came out of stealth mode in 2007, Jim Berkman, head of global marketing for cPacket, told CRN exclusively.

With the launch of its formalized, three-tier partner program, however, cPacket is empowering partners with incentives such as sales training, a partner portal, and marketing dollars to help reseller partners become trusted advisers to their end customers, Berkman said.

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"In the past, we've worked with partners in a one-off way. We've cleaned that up and we now have a uniform program worldwide," he said.

The program will offer partners marketing resources and funds, sales and technical training, as well as accreditation programs for performance monitoring solutions for the first time. cChannel will also give partners the ability to add incremental revenue and build new solution practices through professional services, Berkman said.

cPacket has worked with large systems integrators, as well as several small VARs in the past. The company today has about 15 to 20 active partners.

While cPacket wants to add more partners to its channel program, the performance management provider is aiming for "the right kind of partner," Berkman said.

"We don't just want fulfillment [partners] and we don't necessarily need 100 new partners," he said. "We are looking for that partner that can be that trusted adviser."

That's because the networking industry is evolving quickly, due to next-generation technologies, such as software-defined networking (SDN). Businesses need a trusted technology adviser to help them grapple with the influx of new traffic and manage the transition to new technologies, Berkman said.

While partners today can earn a one-time commission on cPacket's hardware-based network performance monitoring and analysis solutions, the provider is looking to inject SDN and cloud into its portfolio down the road. Berkman said that cPacket will be looking at other selling models for partners next year.

cChannel includes three tiers. Gold is the highest level of the partner program and is reserved for resellers and systems integrators that have grown their cPacket business with customers making large network performance monitoring investments. The Silver tier requires new and existing partners to have made a baseline investment in technical training and demo equipment from cPacket. Finally, partners interested in reselling cPacket solutions without making an annual commitment can join the program at the Affiliate tier, the provider said.

In an effort to strengthen its new channel partner program, cPacket has been working hard to establish new distribution relationships across North America, EMEA, APAC, and ANZA, and wants VAR partners to fill in under those distribution partners, Berkman said.