Expand unveils RoI tool to help VARs win deals

Vendor stresses the need to convince firms of technology's financial and productivity benefits

Adam Davison: This tool was desgined with the channel in mind and speaks 'financial language'

To combat shrinking IT budgets, WAN optimisation vendor Expand Networks has launched a return on investment (RoI) tool to help partners close more deals.

The RoI/TCO Calculator collates information on the size and cost of bandwidth, servers, security, acceleration, number of staff and branch offices. An RoI time frame and details of financial benefits over three years are then calculated.

Expand’s vice president of sales and marketing, Adam Davison, said: “There are a lot of ROI tools out there and most are marketing tools. This tool was designed with the channel in mind and it speaks financial language. A partner can deliver the report straight to a chief executive or chief finance officer.”

Davison revealed that six or seven deals had already been closed using the tool and feedback from VARs had been positive.

Yuri Pasea, director of access and virtualisation for distributor DNS Arrow, said: “IT budgets are tightening and less capital investment is available. The easier it is for us to prove rapid RoI the easier it is to sell.”