What Networking VARs Look For In A Partner Program

The networking space can be a tough racket. VARs battle each other head-to-head and, in many cases, the products and solutions they offer have become commoditized. Inking a large deal requires legwork--more so than just technological superiority--and backing from a vendor with a solid partner program.

Several networking vendors captured gold status in this year's VARBusiness Partner Programs Guide, among them Cisco Systems Inc., Exinda Networks and Juniper Networks Inc. VARs praised these partners for superior sales support, marketing support, profitability, channel operations, communication and partner recruitment. But there's always room for improvement.

"We date our partners, but we're married to our customers," said Phil O'Reilly, CEO of Solunet Inc., a Melbourne, Fla.-based solution provider and Juniper partner. And O'Reilly said dating Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Juniper has been successful because Juniper's program is predictable and stable, both true hallmarks of the partnership. Support and field engagement also set Juniper apart, he said.

Five-Star Gold Vendor: JUNIPER NETWORKS "Juniper has a deliberate dependence on channel partners. They'll bring the appropriate forces to bear to support the channel unequivocally."

"Juniper helps you understand how to compete with a product," he said. "Juniper has a deliberate dependence on channel partners. They'll bring the appropriate forces to bear to support the channel unequivocally."

"They focus on the partner brand, not the Juniper brand. It's not all about them," O'Reilly said. "Unlike some of the bigger guys, what you see is what you get."

O'Reilly said, however, there are areas where Juniper could improve. The company still focuses strongly on the service provider market, as opposed to the enterprise, and the vendor struggles with partner communication. "Juniper needs to work a little more with partner communication," he said. For example, Juniper didn't notify partners soon enough when it discontinued the DX line.

Bill Smeltzer, CEO of Seabrook, N.H.-based Focus Technology Solutions Inc., a Cisco partner, said Cisco's key differentiators are its sheer breadth and the resources it makes available to VARs. Smeltzer said San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco provides him with a dedicated channel manager in each specific technology area.

"The most valuable asset I get from Cisco is channel support," he said, adding that communication about promotions, training and other incentives also ranks high.

While some Cisco partners say it's difficult to make a profit from Cisco products, Smeltzer disagreed. He said playing by the rules, using the right incentives and communicating with Cisco throughout the sales process achieves solid margins.

But even the best relationships can get a little rocky. Smeltzer said Cisco's partner recruitment efforts cast a wide net. "One of the major problems that I see with Cisco is they recruit everybody," he said. "There's a lot of competition."

And Cisco doesn't enforce product restrictions, which rewards partners who are experts in certain technologies by restricting specific products to those VARs, he said. That creates unnecessary competition and can result in thin margins as several partners jockey for one account. "By signing up everybody under the sun and not restricting products, they're riding six horses in the race and they have a good chance of winning," Smeltzer said.

Dale Tesch, sales director for Portsmouth, N.H.-based solution provider Invercence Inc., is a partner of both Cisco and Boston-based Exinda. For Cisco, he said, profitability is an easy achievement because "the more you invest, the more you get."

Exinda is still relatively new to the channel and "their primary focus right now is to get mindset and market share," Tesch said. But Exinda has structured its program to excel in presales engineering and communication. "When I ask for something, they work with me to get it done," he said.