Vendor Extreme Networks aims to ramp up UK partner numbers this year as it takes the fight to market monolith Cisco.

UK and Ireland regional director Gary Newbold said Extreme had 24 partners when he joined in April. He aims to swell that figure to 43 by the end of 2010.

“We have already made progress towards that,” he added. “Cisco is the dominant market force; when (partners) position Extreme into an account, they become the only one offering an alternative.”

Newbold claimed that his firm currently has five top-level Platinum partners and the same number with Gold status. He added that he wanted to increase these to nine and six respectively.

Newbold said that impressive product margins would be a deal-breaker for many prospective partners, claiming they could make as much as 25 per cent, with wrap-around services on top.

Ian Jackson, managing director of Gold partner Imerja, claimed Extreme’s dedicated focus on Ethernet networking technology was beneficial to partners.

“Extreme has a focused approach to the market and that is reflected in its approach to the channel,” he said. “We are as important to it as it is to us. With its competitors you can become a small fish in a big pond.”