NTT/Verio Extends Reach
The influencer referral program, available now, is designed for solution providers that want to refer businesses to NTT/Verio without having to make a commitment to the broadband and hosting provider. Influencer partners receive a 50 percent commission if the lead turns into a sale. For example, if a deal is worth $20,000 a month, the partner gets a one-time payment of $10,000.
"The [influencer] program is a smart move for Verio," said Quy "Q" Nguyen, CEO of Allyance, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based telecommunications agent. "This is really an introductory program for VARs that may not have the resources or expertise to become a Verio partner."
NTT/Verio's enterprise hosting and broadband divisions have 120 master agent partners and about 2,000 subagents, while the viaVerio shared hosting division has about 5,000 partners, said Craig Schlagbaum, vice president of channel sales at NTT/Verio, based here.
Almost 50 percent of NTT/Verio's shared hosting revenue is generated by the channel, and roughly 30 percent of the enterprise hosting and broadband revenue is derived from partners, Schlagbaum said.
He added that he expects 50 percent of NTT/Verio's shared hosting, broadband and enterprise hosting revenue to come from the channel by December 2004.
"We are the 800-pound gorilla in this space because we are at the high end and at the low end," Schlagbaum said. "No other player is working both ends, and it's a powerful message when we are able to say we are able to do this and generate deals and revenue because of the channel."
Rob Goble, CEO of Venicom, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based master agent, said he's in the process of wrapping up the largest hosting deal in NTT/Verio's history. Once closed, the agreement will be worth about $400,000 to $600,000 per month, he said.
"There were a lot of big names going after this contract,like IBM, AT&T, AOL,and Venicom and Verio won it," Goble said.
The training program, which is aimed at viaVerio shared hosting partners serving the SMB market, involves a series of interactive Web seminars with NTT/Verio staff and other resellers. On the enterprise hosting side, NTT/Verio customizes training for each partner and often flies engineers to partner sites, solution providers said.