With the launch of its PCoIP Partner Program last month, Teradici Corp., a Canadian-based PC over standard IP remote computing vendor, is actively recruiting and educating its growing base of channel partners.
Teradici is a Burnaby, B.C.-based company that doesn’t sell products. Instead, the company licenses its technology and PCoIP chips to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), who then market and sell the solutions to partners and end-users.
Andrew Naiberg, Teradici’s channel marketing manager, says PCoIP is a remoting technology that allows businesses to remote any application, without having to use a PC or a traditional thin client on the desktop.
“Our goal at Teradici is that the user can’t tell that the computer isn’t under his or her desk,” he said. “The benefits of using this technology is for security, manageability and data centre consolidation, collaboration, remote access and mobility.”
PCoIP technology connects user desktops to host computers in a data centre, using a host card and a desktop portal device. Naiberg said that unlike most thin client solutions, Teradici’s Desktop Portal has no CPU, operating system or device drivers and hence requires essentially no management at the endpoint. The technology also provides superior security since no data ever leaves the data centre. The user just needs an adequate network connection in order for the technology to work, Naiberg added.
“Our technology is designed primarily for corporate LANs and WANs, but also works over public Internet,” Naiberg explained. “The PCoIP experience is delivered through a proprietary chip that fits on the host that sits in the data centre and the chip sits on the desktop.”
Teradici has numerous partnerships with vendors such as Dell, which has a Dell Precision R5400 Rack Mount product, in addition to Samsung, which has a line of PCoIP monitors. Most recently though, Naiberg says VMware signed a partnership with Teradici last fall to use PCoIP technology as the protocol for future desktop virtualization solutions.
“We’re working together with VMware to build a software-based solution to remote desktops to multiple users using PCoIP technology,” he said.
To help raise awareness and to expand its market and channel presence, the company launched its PCoIP Partner Program last month.
The program is designed to help educate and provide assistance to partners who are using Teradici’s PCoIP technology.
Naiberg says that while there’s no cost to join the partner program, there are three different partner tiers, Authorized, Gold and Platinum. All partners have access to Teradici’s partner Web site, which has resources such as videos, marketing material, technical information and case studies, to help partners in the PCoIP space.
“Authorized is the entry-level in the program,” Naiberg said. “To get to Gold, we ask that partners complete two or three successful projects. In this level, we vouch for the partner and stand behind them. We also offer co-branded marketing materials and the partner gets inclusion on our partner site. For the Platinum tier, partners need to sell a significant amount of units, but they’re rewarded with access to things like market development funds.”
The PCoIP Partner Program has been around for six weeks now and it already has between 30 and 40 partners who are enrolled in the program, or are in the process of enrolling, Naiberg said.
“I’m looking for more partners throughout most of Canada though,” he said. “I’d like more partners in Toronto, Quebec, Alberta and even in the Maritime (regions).”
The entry-level cost of PCoIP is $1,000, which includes the proprietary chip and desktop portal.
Partners can expect to earn between 15 and 20 per cent margins on PCoIP, Naiberg said, with the opportunity to earn more through additional services such as, network and data centre design, storage optimization and disaster recovery.
“Our number one goal is to have a thriving partner community that’s well prepared to go into the larger accounts,” Naiberg said. “I also want to connect our partners with the opportunities we may uncover either through trade shows or from our Web site. Partners are our feet on the street, so I’m looking forward to recruiting more partners.”