Reldata Inc., a vendor of software-centric unified storage systems, began transitioning its sales model from a direct one, to a 100 per cent channel-only one just last summer.
The Parsippany, N.J.-based company is privately-held and has been in business since 2005. Its channel and business development director, Lanie Kruger, said the vendor decided last summer it would move from a direct to a 100 per cent indirect channel delivery model.
Currently, the vendor has 62 value-added resellers and four distributor partners across the globe, including two partners who sell into the Canadian market. Reldata’s North American business accounts for more than 75 per cent of the vendor’s overall revenue.
“Our partners are an extension of our sales arm and we’re looking to expand in the Canadian market,” Kruger said. “We’re also looking to expand our sales and technical support in the Canadian market too.”
Last fall, the company announced enhancements to its partner program to include new quarterly sales incentives, deal registration and protection, co-funded demand generation initiatives and co-marketing programs.
Kruger explained that Reldata partners who register their deals will receive 40 points of margin, and those who sell support contracts will make 15 points on top of that.
The company is looking for partners who have sales and technical support on staff, can drive about $1 million worth of revenue annually, and focus on specific industry verticals such as healthcare, government or the financial markets.
Reldata’s flagship product is its 9240i unified storage solution which Kruger says consolidates both SAN (storage area network) and NAS (network attached storage) into a single management interface. The solution can virtualize block and file storage and also provides users with a “complete storage solution” with its controller and disk capabilities.
With this product, Kruger said partners can utilize Reldata’s Save as you Grow pricing model, which offers users a one-time license cost.“When customers add disk capacity to the system, it doesn’t increase their support or maintenance costs, or the cost of the license,” Kruger explained. “Our system will also co-exist in any multi-vendor environment, which provides VARs with a competitive solution to take to their customers.”
For new partners, Reldata also has a QuickStart Kit, which Kruger says is designed to help partners more quickly ramp up their businesses to get started with Reldata’s solutions.This year, the company’s looking to achieve a 40 to 50 per cent partner growth rate, Kruger said.
Reldata is also focused on recruiting more solution providers in Canada as part of its continued channel expansion strategy.