Enterasys Tightens Partner Ties

At the conference, Enterasys said it planned to differentiate itself from its competitors, especially Cisco Systems, through its new Secure Networks strategy.

The strategy, launched last week along with a new corporate logo and company tagline, touts security capabilities the vendor has been building into its infrastructure products for several years. The capabilities stem from embedded technology in Enterasys' ASICs, firmware and application software that allows policy-based management at the port level, enabling the network to play an active roll in securing customers' IT infrastructures.

Several partners attending the event applauded Enterasys' new marketing efforts, noting that they have been asking the company to build up brand-awareness among customers for several years.

"When we go to most customers and ask if they've looked at Enterasys, they say: 'What's that?,' said Mike Vinton, senior account manager at Global Technology Resources (GTRI), a solution provider in Denver, Colo.

Partners also commended the work Enterasys has put into filling gaps in its product lineup.

"They've really rounded out the whole product line," said Amir Sohrabi, executive vice president of Managed Solutions Planning Xperts (MSPX), a solution provider in Arlington, Va. "With entry-level to high-end gear, now we have a [full] product portfolio where before we had to walk away from some opportunities," he said.

The vendor launched more new products in the last nine months of 2003 than in the previous three years combined, said Mark Aslett, president of Enterasys, during a keynote address Wednesday.

To help partners bring Enterasys' new marketing message to customers, Aslett outlined "the five C's" or five different business benefits its Secure Networks strategy provides. "They raise the level of debate from talking about technology to talking about actual business problems," Aslett said.

The five C's include business continuity; context (the ability to distinguish "good" traffic from "bad" traffic); control (the capability of the infrastructure to dynamically respond to changes); compliance with federal and other regulations; and the consolidation of network infrastructure.

Aslett criticized competitors who rely solely on security appliances to secure the network perimeter but build no intelligence into the infrastructure itself.

"Many of today's infrastructures don't have the ability to respond [to environmental changes]. They have a hard exterior but the network itself is very vulnerable," Aslett said.

Aslett also confirmed the Andover, Mass.-based company's commitment to its channel partners.

"We are 100 percent focused on growing our business through the channel. It's the only way we're going to succeed," he said.

Aslett called on partners to help the vendor reconnect with thousands of dormant customers who in the past purchased equipment from Enterasys or its former parent company, Cabletron, but have made no recent purchases.

Of Enterasys' 15,000 North American customers, about 75 percent have not made a purchase within the last two years, he said.

"They recognize that in order to maintain control of the cost of sales, they really need a network of solid channel partners," said Ken Presti, research director, network channels and alliances, at research firm IDC. "They can extend their reach through the channel in a way they can't do by themselves," he said.

To help partners along in the quest to cultivate sales opportunities within its installed base, Enterasys is embarking on joint business development planning between its channel partners and its regional directors.

As part of that planning, expected to be completed by the end of this quarter, Enterasys will assign some of those customers to its top channel partners to help them find potential new sales, said Cosmo Santullo, executive vice president of worldwide sales and service at Enterasys.

Santullo has also turned 60 of the vendor's 80 direct sales account reps into territory managers responsible for driving business through channel partners, he said.

"We're hoping to accelerate growth as soon as possible and we think we'll start seeing partner success with us in the third quarter of this year," Santullo said.