I didn’t need to go surfing even once to know that without waves, there would be no ride. You could float, maybe drift, but you wouldn’t go where you wanted. That lesson isn’t so obvious for surfing the software channel, but it is just as true. In the early days, 19 years ago, our products were new, without awareness or pull – not the right fit for the channel. So we started by selling direct, and making it easy for customers to purchase through a reseller if that is what they preferred. We knew we couldn’t reach our entire target market (at that time) of small to medium organizations by ourselves, but we decided we would rather prove ourselves one customer at a time and learn from the experience. As a boot-strapped start up, if we made a big marketing push and missed the mark, we would be risking disaster and could be out of business. So even though the channel was our long term strategy, we did not seek it out. We needed to build a reputation and market demand. That approach kept us growing slowly with a small profit for a few years. Over time, we built up relationships with resellers and distributors and our business through them. We put a lot of thought into establishing and managing channel partnerships. If we pushed too hard for lower discounts, didn’t provide good service, or didn’t have strategic alignment, the channel wouldn’t be motivated. Conversely, if we offered too much, our profits would suffer. It is a delicate balancing act, just like on a surfboard.

Our goals in setting up a channel program were:

1. Make it easy for our customers to buy.  Give them the choice to buy from their partner of choice or buy from us direct at list price.
2. Be channel-friendly, with good margins. Provide more than discounts, with pre-sales technical assistance, product training, deal registration and a partner web portal.
3. Make our sales force appreciate the channel as an extension of themselves. This requires carefully thought-out compensation plans to make them equally happy regardless of where the customer purchases.
4. Clear rules of engagement to encourage the channel to invest and seek out customers, without reason to worry that we would take the business from them.
5. Through all of the above, gain market share and increase profit.

In addition, we strive to communicate and to be responsive and predictable. We try to be clear about our channel philosophy, strategy and tactics and avoid surprises. We expect the same of our partners.

Over the years we and our partners have put a tremendous amount of time, energy and resources into our relationships. As we, our channel partners and our markets evolve and grow, our channel program adapts to meet current needs and make sure our interests continue to align. We pride ourselves on understanding how important the channel is to us and providing a real commitment to our mutual success. We recognized early on that trust is the key to a successful channel program. We are proud that we have earned that trust over these many years.

Just like the ocean, the channel is vast, deep and powerful – a force with great potential that is important to understand and respect.

Please check out our partner pages for Network Management, Secure File Transfer and Messaging to give you a sense for our partner programs.