Silver Peak vice president Asia-Pacific and Japan, Doug Farndale
Wide area network company, Silver Peak, has launched a new global partner program. It said is designed to attract, educate and enable valued channel partners to capitalise on the burgeoning software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) market opportunity.
The firm said the new channel program is fundamental to its global go-to-market strategy, as it takes the complexity out of building WAN solutions for enterprises and service providers.
Silver Peak Asia-Pacific and Japan vice-president, Doug Farndale, told ARN that with the new program, the company is targeting a new form of partner than it had in the past.
“We are looking for partners with an expanded WAN skill set,” he said.
“Historically, we were looking for people who understand the storage space, servers, and the point-to-point dynamics of performance.
“Now what we are looking for is partners that understand all of that plus posses a more detailed understanding of WAN connectivity and WAN routing. That includes security, active directory, and some of the routing protocols. Essentially, we are looking for partners that have a more traditional networking background.”
Farndale added that in the past the company had effectively offered a two tier program in Australia and it was now moving back to the three tier system it uses globally.
The new program offers multiple new initiatives. Silver Peak said each is aimed at making the delivery of the company’s premier SD-WAN solution seamless. The new features include:
- Three partnership levels – The new program comprises three levels - Summit, Ascent, and Registered in descending order. The company said that as partners invest in Silver Peak and achieve specific milestones, they advance through the program and receive additional support and benefits. Partners who earn Summit designation receive the highest level of field support.
- SD-WAN sales and technical certifications – The company has a new SD-WAN certification training for sales professionals and will complement it with an SD-WAN certification program for system engineers. These online certifications enable partners and acknowledge them for their expertise in Silver Peak solutions.
- Partner program mobile application – A mobile app has been developed that is said to allow partners to easily find Silver Peak information on the go. Partners can view new sales tools, watch training videos and register a deal on their mobile devices.
- Basecamp – Silver Peak’s new partner portal is said to be designed to cut partner on-boarding time down while providing a single, on-demand destination for training and enablement. With Basecamp, partners can quickly access the sales and marketing tools and support they need to help customers build a world-class SD-WAN.
