Isilon has revamped its global partner programme as it scouts for resellers and looks to penetrate new vertical markets.

The scale-out NAS vendor is gunning for more market share and looking to grab business from rivals such as NetApp.

Under the partner programme, launched last week, resellers will be structured into Platinum, Gold and Silver levels, depending on their revenue. Leonard Iventosch, vice president of global channels, said Isilon is taking a new approach to its programme.

“We are not taking Platinum-level partners on straight away,” he said. “We believe the resellers should work their way up to the top.”

Iventosch also said the vendor would not get too focused on special pricing, but would ensure partners make margins “north of 20 per cent”.

“The industry has fallen into a situation where all channel business is through special pricing, but the discounts are not in line with the street,” he said.

Partners will have access to five different product bundles, ranging from entry-level to high-end products. The vendor is seeing success in media and entertainment, HPC, design and automation and in the genetic sequencing markets.

Isilon is determined not to set up a huge professional services team, he added.

“We have a policy that we will not compete against our channel,” said Iventosch.

Stuart Day, UK channel manager, said: “We are looking for a small number of partners in each vertical sector. We want to create demand and deliver higher margins.”

Jason Dance, sales director at Isilon’s distributor VADition, welcomed the vendor’s approach.

“I think professional services should always be the integrator’s choice,” he said.