Enterasys unveils first partner programme

Networking company Enterasys has announced a new global partner programme to be rolled out in the UK over the coming months. The company, formerly part of Cabletron, has been operating for about a year, and is embarking on its first channel programme.

Networking company Enterasys has announced a new global partner programme to be rolled out in the UK over the coming months. The company, formerly part of Cabletron, has been operating for about a year, and is embarking on its first channel programme.

The tiered programme will include a basic associate membership, a certified membership for resellers which specialise in a particular area, and an elite partnership for resellers which can sell end-to-end for Enterasys, according to UK managing director Stephan Michal.

"We think having partner programmes is essential," he said. "Partners want to be differentiated for their skills, and they want the benefits of being part of the club."

The company has about 60 partners in the UK, and aims to keep it at about that number, Michal claimed. "We can offer our partners high margins on our products because we don't over distribute, so there is less competition in the marketplace," he said.

He added that services, consultancy and integration are also possible with Enterasys products for additional value-add and margin for partners.

Mahmood Chaudhri, managing director of Enterasys reseller Datrix, said that he had seen a lot of partner programmes but that the Enterasys offering was one of the best.

"Enterasys has a more intimate relationship with its partners," he explained. "They offer leads, training support and marketing tools, and being one of their higher-level partners means we can deal direct with Enterasys and not just distributors."

He added that, for Datrix, it was simply a case of migrating programmes because the company used to resell for Cabletron.

"We had to retrain some of our engineers, but that's just the way of technology; things change very quickly. It is hard to get certified, but it has always been hard, and it's worth it," he said.

Also published in Computer Reseller News