Big Switch Networks has announced the availability of its two-tier channel partner program locally, as the vendor continues to build out channel capabilities across Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ).
The next-generation data centre networking company officially landed in Australia in August 2016 selling its solutions through its global partner, Dell, and local distributor, Newgen Systems.
The program, which is part of the vendor’s expansion plans, will offer partners incentives, in-depth training, certification and enablement programs as well as professional services opportunities.
Spanning Authorised and Premier tiers, partners are eligible to be an Authorised partner if they are an authorised networking reseller of either Dell EMC or Hewlett Packard Enterprise, or by signing a Big Switch value-added reseller agreement for selling Edgecore + Big Switch solutions.
According to the vendor, the tier’s requirements are minimal, in a bid to encourage interested VARs to get familiar with Big Switch’s next-generation solutions.
Once partners have met the Authorised requirements they are then able to try and meet additional requirements to be eligible to the Premier tier.
Additional requirements includes a defined number of partner sales and engineering employees who are trained and certified on Big Switch solutions, hosted demo labs in partner environments for ongoing training and customer demos, and meeting quarterly minimum requirements for deal registrations and deals closed.
As Premier partners, resellers have access to rebates, marketing support and qualified leads.
According to the vendor, by joining the partner program, Big Switch resellers benefit from the opportunity to differentiate themselves in the market by adding its “innovative” data centre network switching fabric, network monitoring and DMZ security solutions to their portfolios.
Partners will also be able to drive incremental recurring revenue streams with subscription licensing models.
“As market adoption of Big Switch products accelerates, we are experiencing an increased level of interest from channel partners looking to be enabled and trained on the solutions that their customers are asking for and actively deploying,” Big Switch Networks vice president of business development, Susheel Chitre, said.
“We are launching the partner program to ensure that we can provide partners with a structured framework around training and certifications as well as financial incentives and marketing opportunities.
"We have designed the program to be inclusive for all partners irrespective of whether they source Big Switch solutions from our switching partners Dell EMC, Edgecore, HPE or our Value Added Distributor partners."
From a local perspective, Reuben Bennett, a managing partner at services provider Ikara Group, has already joined the program.
“As demand for open networking solutions continues to increase across Australia, Big Switch is an ideal partner for Ikara to bring differentiated networking solutions and services to end-users," Bennett added.
