Riverbed Enhances WW Partner Network Program

Riverbed Technology announced enhancements to its worldwide partner network program intended to expand the company's reach and create new initiatives for the success of Riverbed, its customers, and its partners.

As part of the enhanced program, Riverbed is implementing a two-tier distribution strategy in North America, with the signing of Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions and Avnet Technology Solutions, an operating group of Avnet Inc., as Riverbed value added distributors (VADs). The addition of distribution to the program in North America is intended to enable Riverbed to better meet the demand for its WAN optimization solutions.

In addition to the implementation
of two-tier distribution in North America,
program enhancements include the following:

• New partner programs for Large Account Resellers (LARs), enhanced program benefits for enterprise resellers, and a new SME channel strategy
• New partner program for Service Provider partners
• New specialization offerings: Riverbed Authorized Support Partner (RASP) and Riverbed Authorized Consulting Partner (RACP), which will complement the Riverbed Authorized Training Partner (RATP) specialization that is currently in place

With these program enhancements, Riverbed is delivering a comprehensive, strategic program that enables the company to segment its partners based on the markets on which they focus. In addition, Riverbed's enhanced partner network program will support each partner type by compensating Riverbed's partners for the unique value they provide to Riverbed and its customers.

"When surveyed by a leading analyst firm, Fortune 1000 IT executives list Riverbed as one of the top vendors with whom they plan to spend in 2010," said Dave Peranich, senior vice president of worldwide sales at Riverbed. "These business leaders are choosing Riverbed's proven and highly-scalable solutions for their cost savings, productivity and cloud computing optimization benefits. To better meet this expected demand and allow organizations of all sizes to work with their preferred partners to reap the full rewards of a Riverbed deployment, we have enhanced our partner network program."

Two-Tier Distribution: The Enabling Engine
A core part of Riverbed's enhanced program in 2010 is the introduction of two-tier distribution in North America. Riverbed has been working with VADs in Europe and Asia for several years, and has a strong network of existing VAD relationships in those regions. Two-tier distribution allows Riverbed to dramatically scale its reach and better service the needs of its channel. The new VADs will act as extended arms of the sales channel and will have staff dedicated to the success of Riverbed and its customers. Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions and Avnet Technology Solutions are the first VADs selected by Riverbed to service its North America resellers. In addition, Riverbed has signed a global agreement with Westcon, which will focus on servicing Riverbed's major service provider and systems integrator partners. Each of these distribution partnerships will complement Riverbed's existing VAD relationships in Europe and Asia and extend Riverbed's sales reach.

"Our two-tier distribution model allows us to outsource a portion of the channel management function and gives us an extended reach," continued Peranich. "It also offers our VAR partners enhanced channel management, enablement and support to help them grow their business with Riverbed solutions."

Aligning the Channel to the Customer Need
The comprehensive Riverbed Partner Network (RPN) Program enhancements create a robust offering for each type and size of Riverbed partner. The Program creates a compelling platform for partners to further engage with Riverbed to drive their organization's growth by leveraging new lead generation, training and certification and sales incentive programs that drive success both for the partners and their customers.

The program enhancements include:

• New Large Account Reseller (LAR) and Service Provider programs that enable Riverbed to drive deeper relationships in major accounts and provide unique benefits to those national and global partners.
• The Enterprise VAR program, which offers incremental training and sales incentives that make it even more attractive for enterprise VARs to grow their business with Riverbed solutions.
• An aggressive program for the SME market with the introduction of a dedicated sales team and lead generation program.

Service Providers - Servicing Global Customers
with Complex Technology Needs
With this announcement, Riverbed is also formalizing its Service Provider program, which helps the company address the needs of large global customers with complex technology needs. Service providers who partner with Riverbed are able to go to market with a managed service based on the market-leading WAN optimization solution, delivering a value-added service layered on their existing transport contracts that expands their relationship with the customer. Customers benefit with pay-as-you-grow models and the ability to maximize their budgets by reducing upfront capital costs and leveraging operational expense budgets.

"Service providers are looking for strategic services to add to their solutions portfolios," said Peranich. "This program builds on our several year relationships with many of the industry's leading service providers, and offers them benefits to make it even easier to partner with Riverbed to expand their managed service offerings."

Specialization Programs: Building Closer Relationships
with Riverbed and its Customers
To enable its reseller partners to act as an extension of the Riverbed support and professional services organizations, Riverbed is introducing a specialization program that supports all categories of its existing partners. The specialization program will allow eligible partners to provide level 1/level 2 support, training, or various Riverbed-focused professional services to their customers. These specializations allow the partners to build closer relationships with their customers and provide high-value services that the customers can leverage to get the full benefit of their Riverbed deployments.

The program includes the following specializations:

• RASP - Riverbed Authorized Support Partner
• RATP - Riverbed Authorized Training Partner
• RACP - Riverbed Authorized Consulting Partner

"Riverbed has spent the last three years building a robust partner eco-system supported by a partner program with benefits that will drive value for its partners and customers alike. This announcement turns the dial on an already strong partner program implementation, and elevates Riverbed's competitive advantage," said Paul Myerson, senior channel strategy analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group.