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Fortinet Partner Reshuffle On The Cards
By
Archana Venkatraman
Mumbai, Jan 3, 2007
UTM vendor Fortinet has decided to replace at least seven reseller partners from the metros for non-performance and upgrade those partners who are performing well.
"It is part of our channel restructuring program and all those found wanting have to go," Vishak Raman, country manager, India & Saarc, Fortinet, told ChannelTimes. The channel partners likely to be axed from Fortinet's scheme of business are from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, he said adding there will be fresh inductions of business partners.
Refusing to specify any partner, Raman said, "A layer of channel might change; we will upgrade partners who are performing well. We have currently inducted about 10-15 new partners, as we will sever ties with some existing non-performing partners."
He said the move is "a win-win situation for us as well as the partners who are being opted out as each can focus on respective agendas".
Though the vendor chose to attribute non-performance and service as the criteria for severing ties with a few resellers, the market feedback suggests the vendor has taken a strong exception to some of its existing partners showing disloyalty by venturing into business with other companies.
Raman said, though the role of distributor Ingram Micro would remain steady, the company's focus will be to revive and consider the lower rung of partners.
When contacted, Ashok Prabhu, general manager of Bangalore-based Kinfotech, a tier II partner of Fortinet, said while he is aware of the vendor's "reshuffling plans" he is not apprehensive of any business alteration. "Being early partners of Fortinet, we enable our customers with evaluation of the appliance and assist them in implementation and system integration. As long as the newly-inducted partners have a separate set of vertical focus and not clash with our interests, reshuffling is not an issue with us," he added.
According to Prabhu, limited number of partners gives Fortinet an edge in terms of individual partner attention.
Raman also said that the high-end enterprise segment will be its primary focus and it will also try to exploit the potentials of the 'booming' SME segment.
Fortinet's restructuring is also aimed at increasing partners from tier II cities, added focus on solutions and being very customer-friendly. Incidentally, the restructuring exercise comes in the wake of the recent appointment of Naveen Mehra from WatchGuard as its national sales manager with the mandate to execute the new partner model.
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This is the prerogrative of the Vendor to review its disti and channel partners performance but I am sure that they would also take into into consideration the fact that the best cannot remain the best all the times. Ups and down are normal and they still exist in spite of all the professional advancement. |
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- Ramesh Tailang,
Shreemaa Info=S, Delhi
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