As Nick Tidd approaches his first year anniversary as the general manager of D-Link Canada and D-Link’s North American channel chief, he says the pieces are falling into place to make the networking vendor a serious channel player, and a strong contender in the Canadian marketplace.
D-Link is reaching two significant milestones in Canada this summer: a redesigned Web site designed to drive vertical sales leads to D-Link’s Canadian partners, and a new and larger Canadian facility to support its partners across the country.
Tidd said the newly redesigned Dlink.ca will launch this week, and what makes it unique is that it truly takes a vertical approach.
“So often manufacturers put (vertical-specific) information four to five steps removes from the main page, but we’re putting it front and centre,” said Tidd.
He promises on the new web site the industry verticals will “jump right out” at potential customers, allowing the vendor to funnel better quality leads directly to qualified local channel partners.
“I have a unique challenge in that we have a tremendous brand, but people don’t often associate it with vertical marketing,” said Tidd. “We need to assist to assist the channel to take that success we’ve had in the consumer market and translate it to the enterprise.”
The other milestone for D-Link Canada will come on August 10th, when the vendor merges its three Toronto-area facilities into one new 60,000 sq. ft. facility in Mississauga, Ont.
With its strong logistical and support operation based in Canada, Tidd said being able to offer D-Link’s Canadian partners next business day guaranteed arrival, local level three technical support, and the ability to immediately reach local sales and technical support gives its partners a strong advantage.
“They’re truly dealing with a Canadian organization,” said Tidd. “D-Link is going to be and will be a very profitable manufacturer for partners, and we look forward to having future dialogue with them as we broaden our resources into the marketplace.”
Noting that 100 per cent of D-Link Canada’s revenue flows through the channel, Tidd said his team has been working diligently to better equip their partners to take their vertical message to market. This includes equipping them with more case studies, playbooks, online training and collaboration materials.
They’ve launched the value-add partnership program, which encompasses both training and certification. In January, a secure partner portal launched where partners can feel comfortable accessing that information, and Tidd said more content is being added every week.
“I think the unique value-proposition D-Link brings is we’re 100 per cent fulfilled through the channel,” said Tidd. “We don’t make them invest a lot in training and certifications or jump through hoops, and we back it up with Canadian support and marketing.”