VCW targets Fortinet with box-swap campaign

Distributor claims it is hitting former ally where it hurts via competitive swap-out programme

Distributor VCW claims it is causing pain to former vendor partner Fortinet via a competitive swap-out campaign for new ally Cyberoam.

VCW said it has displaced 296 unified threat management (UTM) appliances since it launched the scheme in May.

The campaign allows customers to replace their existing UTM solutions from the likes of Fortinet, Check Point and Cisco for the same cost as the current services and support contract renewal (on a like-for-like basis).

VCW vowed to vigorously protect its Fortinet pipeline after the duo parted ways last year. The distributor said its former ally has been the primary victim of the campaign, asserting that many of its resellers had moved to replace all their customers' Fortinet estates with Cyberoam.

Peter Kidd, managing director of reseller Aries Networks, said he had migrated about 20 customers under the campaign.

"We had been involved with Fortinet since about 2003 and until 18 months ago we were promoting its boxes," he said.

"Cyberoam is much more belt and braces. We have tested it extensively and it doesn't let anything through. VCW's initiative means we can sell our customers a direct replacement and neither we nor the customer has to pay anything more – VCW must be losing money on this."

However, Chris Walsh, sales director at Fortinet distributor Exclusive Networks, was mystified by VCW's claims.

"We have not lost any Fortinet business," he said. "If Cyberoam has swapped out a lot of Fortinet boxes, they are not customers we are aware of. Our renewal rate is above 90 per cent and our new business is growing at 50 per cent.

"Fortinet is technically one of the most robust vendors out there. The issue has been marketing and getting the message out, and now that's something the new management are addressing, Fortinet has never been stronger."

Paul Judd, who formerly headed up Fortinet in the UK and now works for Fortinet partner Lato Networks, said he had never encountered Cyberoam on a deal.

"We have sold a lot of Fortinet products to a lot of big customers who are all happy. I have worked for a whole multitude of vendors and have never encountered anyone more responsiveness than Fortinet," Judd said.