Trend lures more VARs with additional discount

Security vendor hopes an extra 10 per cent off will tempt mid-market VARs from rivals

Security vendor Trend Micro has launched a deal-registration programme designed to encourage repeat business among mid-market VARs.
Since 1 October, any Trend reseller has been able to net an additional 10 per cent discount for registering a new opportunity in firms with 100 to 2,500 seats.
Paul Anderson, sales director for the UK and Ireland at Trend, explained: “We have a direct-touch sales organisation for the enterprise space that secures business for partners. Where we need greater traction and stronger relationships is in the mid-market.
“Our objective is to acquire more resellers that will continually place business with us.”
The initiative, which will run indefinitely, replaces a finders’ fee programme that offered a five per cent discount to selected VARs on an ad-hoc basis.
Anderson said Trend was keen to exploit any channel uncertainty stemming from rival Symantec’s recent shopping spree.
“I’m not telling my sales guys to target any one vendor. But Symantec is going through a lot of changes and may be less focused, so it may be the easiest to displace.”
“The mid-market is a battlefield with a lot of vendors but no real leader,” he said.
Anderson added that Trend plans to flex the programme to drive sales in particular sub-sectors of the mid-market or technologies.
Julian Smith, managing director at security VAR Polestar, said: “We work only with Sophos, but this might make me take another look at Trend. Sophos has just put up its prices again, so if Trend can undercut them, we may be interested.”
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