Webroot Launches Deal Registration, Sweetens Program

Webroot's Channel Edge program consists of premium and standard levels, which depend on the partner's level of commitment in training and resources. The vendor's premium partners Monday began receiving an extra 5 percent off each sales opportunity they register that includes the vendor's flagship Spy Sweeper Enterprise product, according to Vinay Goel, vice president of worldwide marketing at Webroot, Boulder, Colo.

"Deal registration is making sure that partners are comfortable sharing information with us, and it helps us forecast what kind of pipeline we can expect from the channel," said Goel.

In addition to helping Webroot's standard partners to realize the benefits of becoming a premium partner, adding deal registration to Spy Sweeper Enterprise will also help the vendor boost sales going through channel partners from about 50 percent currently to "as close to 100 percent as possible" within the next six to nine months, Goel said.

Partners have opportunities to wrap pre- and post-sale services around Spy Sweeper, said Goel. For example, partners can use Webroot's Enterprise Spy Audit, a vulnerability tool that checks customers' networks for spyware, to generate reports branded with the partner's own company logo, Goel said.

"[The report] gets pretty detailed in terms of the level of vulnerability," said Goel. Enterprise Spy Audit tells you whether the threat is coming from keystroke loggers, Trojans or system monitors, he said.