Blue Coat issues red alert to WAN optimisation VARs

Vendor claims it is upping its game in the application acceleration space with new partner specialisation

Blue Coat is aiming to "galvanise" its position in the WAN optimisation channel with the launch of a specialist badge for resellers.

The WAN Optimisation designation will net qualifying resellers extra deal registration discounts and access to its "Fast Start" enablement programme and a new try-and-buy initiative.

Blue Coat acquired WAN optimisation vendor Packeteer in 2008 and last year claimed it had successfully lured 90 per cent of Packeteer's partners across to its Channel Advantage partner programme. At that time there was a big emphasis on getting partners to cross-sell the two portfolios.

However, Dave Ewart, senior product marketing manager EMEA at Blue Coat, said the new specialisation was about rewarding partners who invest specifically in its WAN optimisation product set.

"We have put tremendous energy into making our product highly competitive and highly differentiated," he said.

"Now we need to match that by putting some wood behind the go-to-market arrow. This is the first time we have had a WAN optimisation category."

He declined to give details of the new margin structure.

Blue Coat's new Fast Start programme is designed to cut the time between evaluation and implementation. The vendor has also added a try-before-you-buy feature to its BlueBox demo programme.

Ewart revealed that Blue Coat would support all this with a "major" end-user lead-generation campaign around its WAN optimisation offering, dubbed "Free the WAN".

Blue Coat is one of three leading horses in the WAN optimisation race alongside Cisco and Riverbed but Ewart claimed his firm has an important edge over the competition.

"As well as competing well in the traditional WAN optimisation market, we differentiate ourselves in our ability to handle video, web application and cloud applications," he said.