Authentication vendor Imprivata has switched from a single-tier to a two-tier channel strategy to broaden its UK market reach.
The firm, which specialises in single-sign-on (SSO) technology, has partnered with Wick Hill Group and e92plus in the UK, which it has claimed will give it access to as many as 700 new VARs.
Wayne Parslow, vice-president of European operations at Imprivata, told CRN: “It made sense for us to pick these distributors because they already work with token vendor Vasco, with whom we have a technology partnership as well.
“We felt that the time was right for us to add distribution to our strategy because our products are also reaching a degree of maturity.”
He admitted there was some concerns among Imprivata’s established reseller base, but was confident that there would be no conflict issues.
“Our resellers appreciate that our products are becoming more mainstream, but we have also introduced certification levels into our partner programme, which means the door to entry is pretty high,” he said. “This has helped to reassure our dedicated partners.”
As a result, resellers will be divided into Premier and Authorised levels to reflect their degrees of commitment to the vendor, he added.
Ian Kilpatrick, chairman of Wick Hill Group said: “Initially we were attracted to Imprivata because its technology ties in very closely with Vasco’s, but Imprivata also allows end-users to sign on from multi-devices and is strong in the physical access market, which is a whole new area of opportunity.
“In the past, SSO technology has been 20 per cent product and 80 per cent consultancy, which has put a lot of firms and resellers off, but with Imprivata it is 20 per cent services and 80 per cent product. We are very excited about this partnership.”
In October, Imprivata signed services giant Logicalis to its channel programme, marking its largest-ever partner signing (CRN, 23 October).
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