Yosemite Enhances Channel Program For Backup/Recovery Software

The company's TapeWare software application comes in a variety of versions for backing up and recovering data for desktop, single-server and multiple server applications. TapeWare competes with such applications as Computer Associates International's ARCserve and Veritas Software's Backup Exec, said Robert Checketts, vice president of marketing at the company.

Checketts said he would not be surprised if solution providers hadn't heard of Yosemite before because the company focused mainly on OEM business until late 2001. However, in December 2001, it signed Ingram Micro as its exclusive distributor, and its December 2002 business with the distributor was nine times that of January of that year, he said.

The company has no direct sales, preferring instead to work exclusively with the channel, except for it OEM business, which has been dropping steadily as a percentage of overall revenue, said Checketts.

Starting this week, Yosemite's solution providers will be divided into three tiers.

At the authorized level, partners that commit to purchasing a $99 marketing tools kit get those tools, including demo products worth about $3,000, as well as Web and print advertising templates, specification sheets and Web-based training, Checketts said.

At the business partner level, for partners that commit to selling $25,000 worth of TapeWare software annually, the company also provides sales leads as well as market development funds equaling about 2 percent of sales, Checketts said. The company will also provide on-site training.

Solution providers that commit to $100,000 per year or more in sales qualify as premier partners, making them eligible for joint sales calls with Yosemite sales personnel as well as up to 5 percent in market development funds, he said.

Yosemite had a two-tiered program in the past, but it was not a formal program, said Checketts.

Michelle Levenson, vice president of GHA Technologies, a $30 million solution provider based in Scottsdale, Ariz., said TapeWare has become a good seller because of its price vs. competing products.

TapeWare is also unique in that, unlike competing products, it is Linux-ready out of the box, and there is no need to purchase Linux software agents, said Levenson. "Feedback from our customers is that [Yosemite's] Linux application is excellent," she said.

Yosemite has been very good at passing leads to GHA, Levenson said. "They seem to be making a concerted effort to get name recognition," she said. "They know folks like us have more feet on the street than they do."

Yosemite has about 4,000 solution providers in North America, thanks in large part to its recruitment drive last year, Checketts said. "So now we're in the development phase with our partners, with training and hand-holding," he said.