More than 15,000 executives in the high tech sector attending the recently concluded Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in LA. The majority of those come from the solution provider community and Microsoft employees. A good portion of that attendance, however, is from alliance vendors.
One of those vendors who made a big splash at the event was Quest Software Inc. (Nasdaq: QSFT) of Aliso Viejo, Calif. Quest unveiled its first ever global channel partner program at the show to support its reseller community along with its distribution partners.
Called Quest Partner Circle, the program tries to bring the collaboration between Quest staffers and solution providers closer. The tiered program will feature a new deal registration and rewards area. The tiers are segmented as Elite, which is the top level along with Premier and Registered. The framework of the program will see a role-based curriculum offering seven solution specializations. Quest will be offering more than 100 training classes to help channel partners meet these specializations.
Elite partners will have executive-level sponsorship and around the clock portal support to resolve any solution or deal issues. Elite and Premier partners will be getting market development funds along with partner-ready campaigns, sales incentives, discounts and referral fees.
“Partner Circle is a first of its kind type of program. We are a $750 million software company and we had partners in our ecosystem that were independent and disconnected. The Partner Circle brings them all together,” said Michael Sotnick, vice president of worldwide channels and alliances for Quest.
According to Sotnick, Quest has about 4,500 partners and those partners make up about 40 per cent of overall revenues. That growth has enabled Quest to hire more channel resources in areas such as sales, marketing, technical support and enablement.
Sotnick was unable to provide margin specifics but did say that if partners register deals they would get between five and 10 per cent extra margin on the front end.
He added that he expects most of Quest partners to source through distribution. Quest distributors are Ingram Micro and LifeBoat. But, some Elite partners will be able to source directly from Quest.
One of the key areas of growth for Quest is with the recently announced Office 365 from Microsoft. Quest is tightly aligned with software giant Microsoft. According to the company, the biggest chunk of revenue comes from Microsoft. Currently, Quest has 125 solutions tied to SQL Server. Sotnick told CDN. The company has achieved ISV of the year for Microsoft many times and because of that has a deep history with the Redmond, Wash.-based company. “We are each other’s top partner and (Office 365) is a logical backdrop for us. We are seen as a key ally in Office 365 and we see this technology as a way to provide easy continuity as customers shift from on-premise to the cloud,” Sotnick said.
Quest also has a strong Canadian connection as partner marketing is done in its Ottawa office where they have about 60 people. Some of Quest’s Canadian partners include ONX, Forsythe Canada and OrangeTech.
Quest’s product line comprises solutions for identity and access management, application performance monitoring, data protection, administration and automation performance monitoring, data protection, administration and automation, migration and consolidation and development and optimization.
