NetFort looks to defend firms through channel
Networking vendor plans to move from a direct-only model with launch of first partner scheme in the UK
Network monitoring vendor NetFort Technologies plans to shift its UK business to an indirect strategy with the launch of its first channel programme.
The Irish vendor, which has operated a direct sales model for the past year in the UK, is seeking VARs to push its flagship product, NetFort LANGuardian, into the UK market.
Damian Croker, marketing director at NetFort, said: “We started in the UK a year ago, working directly, but you can’t grow a business directly. We will now go 100 per cent channel [in the UK] by the end of the year.”
Croker added that NetFort will run a single tier in the UK and is looking to partner with small niche channel players that sell security appliances or network monitoring tools.
“We are looking for a minimum of five resellers, which will give us the coverage we need and still allow us to focus on them,” he said. “We will offer VARs good margins. A lot of resellers sell the same vendor offerings, but we will keep to a low number of partners.”
Resellers with infrastructure partnerships, such as Cisco or Juniper VARs will be well-suited to working with NetFort, Croker added.
“We are strong in university verticals, and have projects at the London School of Economics and Durham University. We also want to expand into finance verticals,” he said.
Croker claimed NetFort will provide the channel with a lead generation scheme and appoint a channel sales person to help VARs drive sales and create leads.
David Hobson, managing director of distributor ProDefence, said: “It’s important to know what’s going on in your network. Monitoring networks is a space of interest, but it’s not big.”
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