AccessData ploughs $6m into channel
Cybersecurity specialist ramps up indirect business
E-discovery and cyber forensics vendor AccessData is injecting $6m (£4m) into its channel this year as it ramps up its indirect business.
The US-based firm has traditionally drawn roughly a quarter of its sales through partners but wants to hoist this to 65 per cent as it turns to the channel to scale its business.
In the UK and EMEA it is aiming to recruit four or five partners involved in litigation around IP theft and criminal trials or in helping large corporates and government agencies detect and mitigate against cybercrime.
Talking to CRN, vice president of worldwide channel sales Chad Gailey said AccessData will ply its partners with $1m in marketing funding alone this year, with total channel spend rising twelvefold to $6m.
The privately held firm expects its channel business to top $50m globally this year after quadrupling its channel headcount to eight.
"In Europe we will probably do more than $20m to $22m in the channel this year and the UK is the number-one spot for us for recruitment," Gailey said.
"The goal I have set as a channel organisation is any partner I bring on, we want to be doing $1m to $2m revenue in software through them – we are not slicing up the pie among a bunch of partners."
AccessData already has about a dozen partners in the UK, although most of these specialise in selling its Forensic Tool Kit, the transactional product on which the firm first found success. New partners will focus on its higher-value e-discovery and cyber forensics wares.
"Our channel reflects that we have point product partners in many cases and we are trying to mature to enterprise-class services companies," Gailey said
He claimed that AccessData pays the highest margins in the market, discounting between 32 and 40 per cent off its product – almost double the 20 per cent average discount its direct sales force offers.
AccessData, which counts BP and the Royal Military Police among its UK customers, competes with the likes of Guidance Software, Autonomy and Clearwell on the e-discovery side and HBGary and Mandiant for cybersecurity.
"What is different between us and a lot of manufacturers is we share every aspect of our revenue stream with our partners," Gailey said. "We are sharing in revenue not only on product but also our implementation, collection and processing services, as well as training and hosting. Our philosophy is, if it's good and profitable for us, it's good and profitable for our partners."
He added: "Unlike other software vendors we are also prepared to go first. We are not standing there with our hand out, we will bring you into three accounts and you can bring us into three accounts and together we can expand our business."
Rob Swainson, managing director of BlueCube, said the VAR met with AccessData last week and is in discussions to take the partnership forward.
"The more they hear about data breaches, most people now accept there is a high chance they will be attacked and that it's what you do about it that matters," he said. "We are looking at AccessData's forensics offering to help customers understand what is happened in the event they do have any form of breach."