A10 Networks cuts 40 UK partners

Application delivery controller vendor removes channel dead wood ahead of Affinity partner programme launch

Application delivery controller vendor A10 Networks has cut its UK partner numbers by two-thirds, ahead of the launch of its first structured partner programme in EMEA.

A10 now has just 20 UK partners, down from 60 at the start of the year, as it rolls out its Affinity partner scheme across the region.

Speaking to CRN Chris Gale, A10 Networks’ EMEA director of channels, said those it removed were not doing any business and had signed up as a partner just "to put our logo on their website".

“We looked at who had already done business with us, who already had trained engineers, who were already skilled and already adding value to what we had got – we retained those and made sure we protected them," he said.

San Jose-based A10 says its technology is designed to keep organisations’ networks secure, complementing firewall vendors such as Palo Alto and Check Point. It claims that up to 40 per cent of its customers’ data makes it through those firewalls uninspected, which is where it steps in to ensure nothing malicious gets through.

The Affinity partner programme is based on A10’s single-tier North American programme, but has been altered for the European market, Gale said. It is its first structured scheme for the region, he added.

Gale said A10 has ‘grown up’ and wants to ensure that it works with resellers that have adjacent technologies such as firewalls, so they can offer the correct solution to the end customer.

“We have taken the North American Programme and adapted it to make sure it fits a three tier model,” Gale added.

“So for things like deal registration we want to make sure that you don’t just capture the end user customer but we also want to know who the distributor is, to make sure people aren’t trying to sell into each others’ territories.”