ChannelLife New Zealand - Industry insider news for technology resellers
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Blue Coat targets channel partner effectiveness
Mon, 14th Mar 2011
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Blue Coat Systems has made several enhancements to its Channel Advantage Programme.

The changes have been made in an effort to increase channel partner effectiveness in selling Blue Coat WAN optimisation solutions and deliver a higher return on the investments that its partners make.

New programmes include a WAN Optimisation Partner designation that enables certified partners to achieve higher margins; a Fast Start enablement program to quickly ramp up partners that sell Blue Coat WAN optimisation solutions; a new Try-and-Buy programme and new training and education resources.

"As the WAN optimisation market demands more sophisticated solutions that can solve not just email and file performance issues but also accelerate Web content and cloud-based applications and optimise video, we want to empower our channel partners to successfully sell the full capabilities of Blue Coat WAN optimisation solutions," said Rajeev Mitroo, Managing Director, Australia & New Zealand for Blue Coat Systems. "Our new and enhanced programs will help those partners who invest and lead with Blue Coat."

WAN Optimisation Partner DesignationNew designation gives partners access to specific programs, such as benefits and training, continuing education and individual support. Partners with the WAN Optimisation Partner designation will also receive exclusive deal registration discounts that increase their return on investment.

Fast Start ProgramWIll provide partners with tools, training and resources to quickly build expertise in WAN optimisation. Selected partners will receive installation support for the first few evaluation customers, engineering and sales training, qualified sales leads and funding for joint marketing campaigns.

BlueBox NFR and Try and Buy ProgrammeThe Blue Box evaluation programme has been segmented into two tiers to make it easier for partners to purchase products for end user evaluations. The BlueBox NFR (Not-for-Resale) tier allows resellers to cost effectively acquire products for demonstration labs, evaluation and feasibility studies and includes a three year support contract with permanent licenses.  The BlueBox Try-and-Buy tier allows partners to acquire appliances for customer evaluations of up to 30 days.

Blue Coat UniversityOnline training and education learning lab will offer four specialisations: general sales skills, Blue Coat PacketShaper appliances, WAN optimisation and security essentials.