SurfControl offers products to UK channel
Software vendor SurfControl has said it will offer UK resellers high margins to sell its SuperScout range of internet filtering software by not going through a distribution partner.
Software vendor SurfControl has said it will offer UK resellers high margins to sell its SuperScout range of internet filtering software by not going through a distribution partner.
After previously selling direct in the UK, the company is now establishing a UK channel.
Owen Dukes, business development manager at SurfControl, said: "We have been taking our time to set up a channel because we wanted to identify the market and create business opportunities for our partners."
The firm is recruiting and training resellers in a three-tier certification scheme. Partners will have access to technical and sales training support, as well as marketing funds.
The levels of accreditation range from entry-level partners that will add the company's products to their own portfolios, to security partners that are strategically aligned to the company and sell only SurfControl products.
The company claims that it will keep margins high by limiting the number of resellers involved.
"We have avoided going through distributors because that makes the products available to all resellers. But we are only looking for resellers that can add value, typically selling our product as an add-on to a firewall," said Dukes.
Matt Tomlinson, business development director at security specialist MIS, agreed that this is a positive move because distributors in the UK struggle to add value to security tools.
He said that resellers are the ideal channel for these products, because this type of internet filtering software is often seen as a luxury to be added to products with a higher priority such as firewalls.
Since February 2000, SurfControl has sold £3m worth of software directly in the UK, and is now launching a product called Email Filter that prevents the misuse of email in the workplace.
Also published in Computer Reseller News