Silver Peak to help partners scale SD-WAN

New partner programme designed to bring resellers up to speed on Silver Peak's new software-defined technology

Wide-area network (WAN) vendor Silver Peak has launched a partner programme aimed at getting partners on board with its new focus on software-defined WAN (SD-WAN).

The vendor said a stagnant WAN-optimisation market spurred it on to go in search of a new space to grow, and deliver fresh opportunities to the channel.

Traditionally, Silver Peak delivered WAN solutions to businesses, allowing them to connect on a single network over long distances. However, it is now shifting its focus onto the SD-WAN market, which is a more localised broadband-based solution.

Silver Peak said its new partner programme is designed to attract, educate and enable partners - of which it has 40 in the UK - to capitalise on the fresh market opportunities. The vendor also claimed that its solution enables end users to save up to 90 per cent of costs related to WAN.

Talking to CRN, Derek Dal Ponte, director of channel marketing at Silver Peak, said: "We asked [resellers], if there were a solution that could achieve the ability to use broadband to lower cost but maintain business security, would they be interested?

"The answer was a very overwhelming 'yes'. So the programme is all about that market opportunity."

The new partner programme has added SD-WAN-focused training for sales departments, along with a certified programme for systems engineers, earning partners' certification to resell the tech.

The three tiers have been renamed Registered, Ascent and Summit, with the top tier, according to Ponte, being reserved for the partners who have invested time in getting their staff certified and drumming up leads for Silver Peak's technology.

A revamped partner portal - now called Basecamp - and a new mobile app have also been introduced, with the aim of making it easier to find resources and information about the company.

Bob Bruce, senior vice president of channel sales at Silver Peak, recognised Cisco as its main competitor in the SD-WAN space, but claimed its solution is superior.

"Cisco will be a significant competitor in this space. I welcome them but we have a better solution, a more channel-ready solution.

"What they have done is verified the market; they have come out and talked about the market and validated that this [SD-WAN] is something that should be addressed," he said.