SafLink Delivers Biometrics to the Channel

SafLink's new Channel Partner Program for SAFsolutions opens up the vendor's menu of biometric and smartcard authentication products to VARs, said Tim Wudi, vice president of marketing, Bellevue, Wash. SafLink's motivation with the new program is to allow VARs to essentially carve out the vendor's SMB market share, something SafLink has very little of, said Wudi.

"We've been primarily focused on direct selling at the Federal level," said Wudi. "But we would like to see mi-market share grow, and we think the channel owns these SMB relationships."

The simplicity of SafLink's technology, the attraction of non-password authentication, and a broad market target makes reselling SafLink products a tempting proposition, said Wudi.

SafLink defines the SMB space as between 50 and 5,000 user seats, a much more inclusive definition of SMB than many vendors have, said Wudi. Atopof that, SafLink's technology is tightly integrated with Microsoft's Active Directory, and plugs right in, replacing the need for AD passwords with biometric or smartcard authentication, and all with very little technical know-how, said Wudi. "Resellers who know Active Directory can put us in with almost no training," he said.

As part of the new SafLink program, participating VARs will need to take a brief certification test that "teaches policy and integration with AD," said Wudi. And SafLink is aiming to recruit at least three to four VARs in the "Top 70 metropolitan areas" of the U.S., he said.

Under the three-tiered program, reseller margins are based on sales loadings and the ability for VARs to meet those sales goals, said Wudi. Margins increase as sales do, he added. And an elite camp of partners, SafLink Medallion Partners, will be rewarded with exclusive marketing assistance and other perks, he said. All qualified partners have full access to the SafLink Partner Portal, said Wudi.

SafLink has provided authentication solutions for Federal identification efforts such as the CBP US-VISIT Program, and the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), both of which are immigration-related U.S. security endeavors, according to SafLink, which competes against vendors such as Identix, ActivCard, Bioscrypt, and RSA Security.