Netgear has its sights set on security resellers

Wick Hill deal should open up new reseller avenues for the vendor ­ and increase VAR margins

Power: Wick Hill has taken us to resellers we have not addressed before

Vendor Netgear is hoping its security offerings and distribution deal with Wick Hill will allow it to bring its traditional networking gear to a new reseller base.

Wick Hill will initially focus on Netgear’s range of email and web security kit. Ian Kilpatrick, chairman of the distributor, claimed the rest of the portfolio would be introduced in due course.

“We work with security partners on the first few networking sales to help them understand it is within their skill set and there is money to be made,” he said.

Netgear’s UK and Ireland managing director Mark Power claimed that Wick Hill’s sales staff had a better technical grounding than those at many broadliners.

“They have taken us to resellers we have not addressed before, who we can train on storage and switching to give them more margin,” he added.

Kilpatrick claimed convergence between networking and security was not just a recent trend. “There is continuing convergence,” he said. “But I am not sure there has ever been a separation between the two.”