Sophos dangles deal registration carrot

Anti-virus vendor throws in extra sweetener for VARs who register deals

Security vendor Sophos has revamped its partner programme to protect reseller margins and increase technical expertise.

The vendor has introduced a two-tier margin structure offering extra incentive to VARs registering deals online. UK channel director James Vyvyan explained that the idea was to reward partner dynamism.

“If you uncover an opportunity, then you get rewarded,” he said. “It is about rewarding the proactive, rather than just those who do higher levels of business.”

The programme, which is being rolled out worldwide after trials in the US, also brings in an increased focus on customer satisfaction and new product specialisations.

Vyvyan claimed it would benefit end users to be able to see what specialised skills resellers possessed.

UK vice president Jon Hughes said: “In the past five years our product portfolio has extended greatly and our partner community needs to reflect that. With data leakage prevention and encryption they need to present themselves as specialists.”

Michelle Trimble, partner manager for Platinum Partner Trustmarque Solutions, revealed her firm had already booked exams in the new technical specialisations.

“Sophos has armed us with great tools,” she said.

“It has aligned us with a channel account manager and also with pre-sales and technical people.”