D-Link eyes enterprise assault

Davies: we want to attract a wider breadth of reseller into the partner model

Networking vendor D-Link is hoping its wireless LAN (WLAN) and IP CCTV kit will help partners in the enterprise space as it readies a new-look partner programme.

The vendor recently laun­ched a managed WLAN 802.11n range targeted at the upper SME and lower enterprise market.

D-Link UK and Ireland general manager Chris Davies said: “We have been doing really well in managed wireless this year and have seen 700-800 per cent growth in year-on-year in sales.”

He claimed the pro­ducts would allow resellers to push into the upper-market.

“We can talk in like terms to HP and Cisco,” he said. “This extends the capability of resellers.”

He also revealed his firm would soon announce an enhancement to its channel prog­ramme, making it “more sophisticated”. A key aim will be making it easier for new recruits to engage with D-Link.

“We want to attract a wider breadth of reseller into the partner model,” he said.

IP surveillance technology will remain a focus this year, and Davies claimed the vendor’s networking nous was a key differentiator.

“A lot of firms are good at selling cameras, but if someone wants to talk infrastructure, they have to back it off,” he said.

Davies revealed D-Link has recruited a team of dedicated business development managers in the CCTV arena.

“We are going to recruit traditional CCTV resellers and try to educate our networking resellers not to be worried about this technology.”

Keith Humphreys, managing consultant at analyst euroLAN, claimed enterprise success was “all about routes to market”.

“It is important to get on a recruitment drive and make sure it has a defined partner offer for SME VARs,” he said. “One of D-Link’s strengths is its green credentials; it could market around that.”