Westcon Unveils Partner Program, Adds Vendor
The Westcon division of the specialty distributor is launching ConvergencePoint SMB, a reseller program geared towards solution providers working in the SMB market.
Resellers will have access to a portal containing product information, solutions guides and sales techniques. Participants will have the option of subscribing to a newsletter, receiving news feeds and accessing marketing collateral. Westcon is also developing new courses geared towards both novice and experienced Nortel solution providers.
The program, a down-market version of its ConvergencePoint program focused on Nortel technologies, and all of the products offered are compatible with Nortel's SMB product the Business Communications Manager (BCM) 50.
"The SMB market, everybody knows, is a huge market. It's a challenge to focus on, and [solution providers] have to be very cost-effective in their approach. A lot of partners want to move into the market but they're not sure how to tap into it," said Lynn Smurthwaite-Murphy, vice president and general manager convergence, Westcon North America, Tarrytown, N.Y.
"Vendors like Nortel have great Web sites. They've been investing a lot of energy in building tools as well, but sometimes [solution providers] have to navigate a bit," she said. "[Our Web site is an] easy and quick place to go."
Products offered through the program were chosen because of their ease of installation and price point, said Smurthwaite-Murphy.
Comstor, Westcon Group's Cisco-focused division, announced that it would be adding Veramark Technologies to its list of vendors geared towards government sales. Comstor partnered with Veramark, Pittsford, N.Y. in June.
"We felt like they had from a technology standpoint both a valid and differentiated product offering that complemented our core offering in the marketplace," said Jeff Smith, general manager of Comstor. "Because we have done so well historically in the federal marketplace, and they were in the process of trying to build up a federal business, we felt the partnership made sense."
Comstor will sell Veramark's call accounting and telecommunications software including its eCAS and VeraSMART products.