AppDynamics Expands Channel Program To U.S. Government, Canadian Markets

AppDynamics is expanding its channel efforts to the U.S. federal government market and Canada, the company said Tuesday.

The application performance monitoring software developer also said it is combining all of its partner operations, including those for managing resellers, managed service providers, systems integrators and technology alliances, under one program.

AppDynamics ramped up its channel efforts in earnest in 2014. Last year the San Francisco-based company launched an OEM partner program through which ISVs can add the AppDynamics Application Intelligence Platform to their cloud or on-premise software.

[Related: AppDynamics Rolls Out OEM Partner Program For ISVs]

"Last year was a big growth year for us in terms of doing business through the channel," said Matthew Polly, previously senior director of technology alliances who was just named vice president of worldwide alliances and business development, in an interview with CRN. Polly now leads the company's strategic alliances and technology partner, systems integrator, MSP and solution provider sales. He declined to disclose the company's channel sales.

While AppDynamics has scored some direct sales wins with U.S. federal government, Polly said the company realized "we would never really penetrate that market in a significant way" without a targeted partner effort.

AppDynamics has partnered with Promark Technology, an Ingram Micro value-added distributor that sells through solution providers to U.S. government agencies and state governments. Promark provides access to federal government purchasing vehicles, including the GSA Schedule.

While AppDynamics will recruit some solution provider partners of its own that sell to the federal government sector, Polly said relying on Promark and its two-tier distribution in that market would allow the vendor to focus more on partner training and other support efforts.

AppDynamics has likewise recorded some sales in Canada, but the company wants to expand its sales efforts there through channel partners. "With this investment we believe we're really open for business in Canada," Polly said.

Solution provider and AppDynamics channel partner Column Technologies, based in Lombard, Ill., has a federal government practice and is expanding into Canada. Column Technologies founding partner and managing director Rob Yario said he welcomes the vendor's new initiatives in those market sectors.

"They have a great channel program, a program you can grow in," Yario said in an interview, praising the program's generous margins and lack of channel conflict. "It rewards [partners] for making investments in AppDynamics," he said. He's also on board with the vendor's technology vision of an easy-to-deploy application monitoring tool that provides visibility into a business' entire IT infrastructure.

AppDynamics, meanwhile, continues its overall efforts to recruit channel partners, particularly large national resellers with national customer accounts and partners with expertise in specific industries and technologies, according to Polly. The company offers margins that start at 20 percent and pays margins for subscription renewals.

The company also is expanding its partner training and certification offerings, adding more in-person training opportunities to the online training it now provides.

PUBLISHED JUNE 10, 2015