In a bid to build up its resellers in Canada, Sophos Software has announced a partner program tweaked for this country.
The three-level program is similar to the one the company had for years in North America, said Leanne Duncan, senior marketing manager of Keating Technologies Inc., which is
the Canadian representative of Sophos.
However, top-level resellers – called Certified Partners — will be eligible for an extra three per cent volume incentive rebate on products if they hit a sales target.
Keating also announced that EMJ Data Systems of Guelph, Ont. will be the Canadian distributor of Sophos products.
Under the Canadian reseller program VARs will be offered a choice of three levels: Authorized Reseller, Partner and Certified Partner.
A Certified Partner commits to selling $75,000 a year and must have a ‘Sophos champion’ who has taken a two-day product training course. In exchange, the company gets up to 30 per cent discount on products.
The volume rebate is added if the company sells more than $25,000 in a quarter.
A second level Partner, who commits to selling $25,000 a year, gets access to joint marketing programs with Sophos and a piece of renewal revenue. Resellers at this level are eligible for product discounts of up to 20 per cent.
Certified Resellers don’t have a dollar sales target. However, they do have to pass a Sophos online training test. They are eligible for product discounts of up to 10 per cent.
Sophos already has 35 resellers in this country. Duncan wouldn’t say how many Keating hope to sign up, but said “”quality, not quantity”” is what the company is looking for.
While Sophos had a three-level partner program in the U.S., it recently was dropped in favour of a two-level program. Duncan explained that the old system was needed when Sophos was in growth mode there, but that period is over. However, it wants to expand the number of resellers here.
Duncan said Keating welcomes resellers who sell other anti-virus products.
Keating was named the Canadian marketing arm in April for Sophos.
