Trend Micro Discounts Antivirus Suites For SMBs
The promotion, being unveiled this week, accompanies the launch of the vendor's Associate Partner Program. Trend Micro, a leader in server-based antivirus software, has made substantial changes over the past six months to drive 100 percent of its sales through the channel, said Lane Bess, senior vice president of North American sales and channel management at the company. "What was lacking was a real channel focus," he said, recalling his arrival about six months ago. "[The company] had a lot of embedded direct-sales thinking."
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Trend Micro's Lane Bess: Channel focus was key to direct-sales force overhaul.
With the edict to stop selling direct, Cupertino-based Trend Micro's sales force was overhauled to emphasize those reps with channel experience, he said. Territory managers became regional channel managers, and Bess recently folded a large-enterprise, named accounts sales group into the overall channel sales initiative. Trend Micro also has increased its channel marketing spending by up to 40 percent, but Bess declined to provide specifics.
Trend Micro counts 1,000 solution provider partners in North America, but its revamped channel program focuses on roughly 100 Premier partners while redirecting those that serve the SMB market through distribution via the Associate Partner Program, he said.
Premier partners must meet certain certification requirements. Typically, they target midsize and large enterprises and can offer consulting services around Trend Micro's comprehensive Enterprise Protection Strategy, Bess said. Premier benefits include improved technical training certification and sales support. A new return-on-investment tool is on tap.
CHANNEL PROGRAM OVERHAUL
>> Vendor's named accounts team was folded into channel sales organization.
>> Territory sales managers have been recast as regional channel managers.
>> Company plans 40 percent increase in channel marketing.>> To support the changes, small businesses will receive a onetime 20 percent discount when buying from Trend Micro solution providers that buy through distribution.
Associate partners receive training and tools via Trend Micro's Partner Web, newsletters and e-mail. The Associate Partner Plus Program provides additional support and distributor discounts to solution providers that commit to a certain sales level.
Pat Grillo, president and CEO of Atrion Communications Resources, a systems integrator in Branchburg, N.J., said he likes what he has seen so far.
"We're not getting the reluctance from the local salespeople we used to get in bringing us into accounts," he said. "[Trend Micro] really seems committed to making the channel strategy work."
The small-business product promotion ends June 30 and applies to an expanded NeaTSuite, and the Client/Server and Client/Server/Messaging suites. With the 20 percent discount, a 250-seat installation of NeaTSuite costs $12,284, including desktop, file server and gateway protection for Microsoft platforms.