RSA Security poised to grow partner base
Vendor's new EMEA channel chief plans to increase UK partner numbers by 30 per cent
RSA Security’s new head of EMEA channels has hailed its two-pronged distribution strategy a success and is looking to ramp up its UK partner base to grab more market share.
The vendor has also doubled the marketing development funds for its channel in the EMEA region as it pushes to become a $1bn company following its acquisition by EMC last year.
RSA is hoping to grow UK partner numbers by some 30 per cent over the next six months.
Miles Rippon, EMEA channels director at RSA, said: “We have ended up with a new distribution programme with Bell Micro as our volume partner and Computerlinks and Sphinx as value distribution partners. This is definitely a volume driven recruitment because it gives us the opportunity to push the technology through a different type of reseller.
“We intend to listen to feedback from partners and clients and meet regularly with our distributors to talk about performance.” Rippon added that the vendor had also changed the way its sales teams are paid to reward them for driving more sales through the channel.
In addition, RSA is offering further rebates to partners that use its deal registration scheme, and is broadening its debit card rebate system to include a Corporate Card that will allow a partner to spend reward payments on company events such as a Christmas party or summer barbecue.
Duncan Hume, manager of the security division at Bell Micro, said: “We focus on the appliance-based products that address the SME marketplace, and our growth with RSA has been steady. Sometimes when a firm is acquired by a larger organisation such as EMC it can have a negative impact on the business, but this is not the case with RSA.”
Mark Hatton, managing director of Sphinx, said: “Our RSA business is going very well. We have been a partner of theirs for years and our RSA business is bigger than ever before.
“In particular the deal registration side of the channel programme is really starting to work and we are seeing more resellers wanting to do business with RSA,” he said.