Allot: Power To The Partners
Through the Empowered Partner Network (EPN) program, Allot pledges to provide partners with enhanced lead generation, expanded sales and technical training, co-marketing, advertising and a new 30-day free evaluation option partners can provide to new customers, said Larry Schmidt, vice president of channel sales at Allot, Minneapolis.
Allot is also working to add a deal-registration element that would reward partners with deeper discounts for new business, he said.
Through the free evaluation option, solution providers can install Allot's NetEnforcer and NetReality bandwidth management appliances for customers and let them live with the solution for a month before having to decide to buy it, said Darrell Seaba, president of Goldfield Telecom, a solution provider in Goldfield, Iowa.
"Until they actually see it on the network and see what's going on in their network, it's pretty tough for them to understand what the product can do for them," Seaba said, noting that 75 percent to 80 percent of customers that evaluate the traffic management appliances go on to purchase them.
Once the appliance is installed, the real revenue opportunity begins for Allot's partners, which can help customers act on the network performance data the appliances collect, said PG Narayanan, CEO of Allot.
"The revenue opportunity is the interpretation of the output. They're going to see a lot of information come back [about] the network," Narayanan said.
EPN features two tiers, Platinum and Silver, based on partners' size, revenue projections and level of certification. The company expects most of its 100 U.S. partners to qualify.
Allot is looking to beef up its channel as the next stage of the company's growth efforts, Narayanan said, noting that the vendor saw 85 percent growth last year. He declined to disclose the privately held company's revenue.
The program comes about two months after Allot hired Schmidt, a former executive vice president with solution provider Norstan, to head up its North American channel efforts.