Quantum Simplifies Combined Quantum-ADIC Channel Program

Among the planks of the program are a simplified discount structure based on a product's suggested resale price and a new deal registration program, said Greg Fredericks, director of high volume product marketing at Quantum.

Quantum, a San Jose, Calif.-based manufacturer of tape- and disk-based data automation and data protection appliances, last May said it would acquire midrange and enterprise tape library maker Advanced Digital Information Corp. (ADIC) in a deal worth $770 million. The deal closed in late August.

Don McNaughton, sales manager at HorizonTek, a Huntington, N.Y.-based solution provider that worked with both Quantum and ADIC before the acquisition, said he has seen Quantum do a good job of accommodating partners from both sides of the combined company.

When Quantum first acquired ADIC, there was concern at HorizonTek that Quantum would look at the relatively low level of business it did with the solution provider and not at the fact that HorizonTek was one of ADIC's largest channel partners, McNaughton said.

"But in the end, they put us at their premier level again, with the same buying power we had with ADIC," he said. "I was originally worried that they might have a closer eye on what we did with Quantum than what we did with ADIC. But they didn't. They looked at us overall."

Under the combined channel program, most solution providers will stay at the registered VAR level, Fredricks said.

However, those who commit to selling $1 million in Quantum products in a year will join the company's Enterprise Storage Partner (ESP) program, giving them access to targeted growth-oriented rebates as well as a team of eight channel managers around the country who handle training and other programs specifically for them, a team the company inherited from ADIC, Fredricks said.

Those who commit to revenue of $400,000 or more per year go to the premier level and become eligible for an additional MSRP discount of about 10 percent, depending on the product, he said.

Quantum has about 100 partners at these two levels, one-third of whom are ESP partners, he said.

Quantum is also simplifying its channel program by basing all its revenue commitments and discounts on MSRP, said Rebecca Gonzalez, director of Americas marketing for the company.

"Before, we discounted off the distribution price," Gonzalez said. "Now we discount off the MSRP, so it's easier. ADIC had that pricing structure, and we decided to add it to our best practices."

That's an important move for the vendor, McNaughton said. "It's absolutely better for us," he said. "Now I don't have to rely on someone to tell me my cost on a product. I don't have to worry about the distributor cost, or about the distributor jacking up the price and keeping the discount."

Also new at Quantum is a more flexible procurement program. In the past, certain solution providers had direct access to Quantum, while the rest had to work with distributors. Going forward, any solution provider can work with Quantum on enterprise products, while all volume products are available only through distributors, Fredricks said.

Quantum products are available through Ingram Micro, Bell Microproducts, Arrow, and Synnex, and tape drives and media are also available from Tech Data, Fredricks said. However, Condre has been dropped as a Quantum distributor, he said.