Maxxan Introduces Formal Channel Program
Maxxan, which makes SAN appliances and Fibre Channel switches ranging from 16 ports to 512 ports, has about 10 U.S. solution providers but aims to boost that number by launching its first formal channel program, said Ravi Chalaka, vice president of marketing at the San Jose, Calif.-based vendor.
Introduced at CMP Media's XChange Solution Provider conference in New Orleans, the program includes a 3 percent co-op fund rebate for marketing on all sales of Maxxan products, but solution providers that sign up with the company before June 30 can get double the rebates for their initial six months in the program, Chalaka said.
Maxxan also is implementing its first opportunity registration discount program, in which VARs that register a potential deal are eligible for an additional 15 percent discount atop of their normal 25 percent reseller discount, Chalaka said. In addition, the company is enhancing its sales training and implementing a technical training program for solution providers, and it will participate in and help fund their end-user-focused road shows, he said.
About 35 percent of Maxxan's global business comes from the channel, and the vendor hopes to raise that to 50 percent by the year's end, according to Chalaka. "In the past, our sales mainly focused on the bid director-class switches, and they are mainly a direct-sales product," he said.
Also at XChange, Maxxan demonstrated a new Fibre Channel switch to solution providers. The MXV 250, expected to be formally unveiled next month, is similar to the company's MXV 500 intelligent Fibre Channel switch. However, the MXV 250 puts up to 48 ports in a 5U space, while the MXV 500 can be configured for up to 256 Fibre Channel ports in a 20U space, Chalaka said. By year-end, the MXV 250 is expected to be upgraded to a maximum of 64 ports, he added.
The MXV 250 also will come integrated with FalconStor's IPStor software, which will add disaster-recovery, virtualization and NAS capabilities to the switch, Chalaka said.