SonicWall lifts partners with subscription tool

Keith Bird: Fifty per cent of our business now comes from subscription services

SonicWall has equipped its UK resellers with a new subscription renewal tool, as recurring revenues begin to generate the lion’s share of its turnover.

The security vendor used its recent UK partner conference to unveil Partner-Enabled Renewal of Customer Subscriptions (Percs), which alerts resellers to subscription services that are about to expire.

Percs has already been launched in the US, where it has been credited with boosting subscription renewal rates to 80 per cent.

Speaking to CRN, Keith Bird, vice president of EMEA at SonicWall, said 150 of the vendor’s 1,200 active partners had attended the event.

“Fifty per cent of our business is from subscription services now and 50 per cent is from appliances, so it is key to ensure that companies renew when their subscriptions expire,” he said.

SonicWall is offering to pursue smaller renewals itself if the partner thinks the cost of sale is too high, before passing the margin to partners.

“Many of our partners do not have the tools or the people in place to ensure every company renews after the year or two years ends. This ensures they will not miss any opportunities. When they want, we can do it on their behalf and they will still get margin,” said Bird.

He added SonicWall is enjoying an annual growth rate of 25 to 30 per cent in the UK and Europe ­ – three times faster than the overall market.

The vendor has 1,200 active UK partners, where it works through distributors Sphinx, Bell Micro, Tekdata and Azlan.
Steve Browell, general manager of the security division for Europe at Bell, said Percs could help to re-ignite dormant customers.

“This will mean customers will be touched more frequently. They will start to hear about new products that are launching and may get back on the spending trail, rather than just renewing what they already have,” he said.

Bird added that SonicWall is launching new marketing tools aimed at taking c hannel support to “the next level beyond classic marketing development fund activity”.

The vendor has taken on agency Gazing Performance, which will act as an outsourced marketing department for partners lacking in-house capabilities.

Bird said the vendor now invests 70 per cent of all its marketing dollars through the channel.
Andrew Shepperd, managing director of Azlan, also welcomed the improvements SonicWall had made.

“SonicWall has a quality offering that seems to attract a loyal partner base, particularly in the SME sector,” he said.