Black Dragon: A Channel For All

The Lexington, Mass., company plans to unveil Monday a new channel program with margins up to 38 percent. Dubbed the Black Dragon Channel Partner Program, it is designed to help solution providers resell the company's proVizor tool.

According to Brian Kratt, director of business development and partner relations, the new program isn't just for resellers, but instead is designed to appeal to solution providers of every kind.

"We are looking for a universe of IT security partners," he said. "This means our door is wide open to consultants, distributors, referrals, OEMs, integration vendors, managed service providers"the works."

Specifically, the program comprises four tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Product discounts begin at 20 percent for up to $199,000 in annual sales and range up to 38 percent for more than $800,000.

To join the program, solution providers first must purchase the proVizor appliance. The tool sits on a customer's network, simulates attacks and collects resulting data from a variety of sources to determine the firm's security risk measurement. Pricing begins at $25,000.

RaeTech, a systems integrator in Tustin, Calif., an existing Black Dragon partner, recently sold a proVizor product to a nearby blood plasma distributor. After that, Robert Caggiano, vice president of the company's security practice, said his firm was able to set up a model of recurring service and revenue.

"Once we identified our customer's risk and got a handle on it, we had a measuring stick of how to go in and fix their problems," he said. "Now we test their network every day, and give them instant feedback on a daily basis."

In addition to RaeTech, other U.S. charter partners in the Black Dragon program include AppTech, Tacoma, Wash.; NetStar, Detroit; and Paladin Technologies, Chicago.