The new Riverbed-Ready program is for ISVs partners, and is designed to spur new and more full featured solutions which cover all the elements of Riverbed’s Application Performance Platform, but solution provider partners are also expected to benefit significantly.
Jerome Noll, Director of Technology Alliances at Riverbed
Today, application performance infrastructure vendor Riverbed Technology is remaking its technology alliance program at its Riverbed FORCE 2014 event, with the launch of the Riverbed-Ready Technology Alliance program.
“We have had a technology alliance program in the past, and this is a reboot,” said Jerome Noll, Director of Technology Alliances at Riverbed. “We originally brought the program to market when we had Steelhead [WAN optimization appliance] as our only product. Everything was aimed at Steelhead. We decided it was time for us to broaden out our technology alliance program to cover our newer portfolio of solutions. Riverbed-Ready addresses this portfolio.”
Noll said the program’s goal is to facilitate the creation by technology partners of more complete and full featured solutions that offer even more value-add and give customers new options.
“Riverbed’s goal here is broadening our solutions around our Application Performance Platform,” he said. “This will broaden our reach.”
The platform extends beyond Steelhead’s WAN optimization to encompass the SteelFusion branch office converged infrastructure solution, the SteelApp traffic manager (which used to be called Stingray), and the SteelCentral solutions for network performance management, application performance management and central control and management.
“We feel our Application Performance Platform is the most complete platform for organizations to embrace location-independent computing,” Noll said. “It allows companies to put their business requirements ahead of IT issues. With these tools in place, IT can resolve issues usually before the customer notices something is wrong.”
The Riverbed-Ready program has three levels – Silver, Gold and Platinum.
The Silver level – the only one that is available without an express invite from Riverbed – provides support for co-marketing of the partners’ solutions with Riverbed. Silver Members have access to Riverbed marketing and technical resources, which allows them to speed their time to market, as does their visibility in the new Riverbed Solution Centre being built on the company’s website.
“They gain access to our partner center, with product information and online training resources, and they also get free NFR software to develop new solutions, and discounts if they purchase our products,” Noll noted.
The invitation-only Gold and Platinum levels target technology solutions in markets strategic to Riverbed, offer joint product integration and testing, joint marketing and go-to-market programs, and map out improved channel and sales alignment.
“The joint marketing and go-to-market programs will create demand for integrated solutions,” Noll said. “The Platinum go-to-market programs are more strategic, and have more benefits, like webcasts, and demo creation, whereas at the Gold level the focus is more on vertical market needs and opportunistic joint marketing.”
While the Riverbed-Ready program is for ISV partners, Noll said it will increase opportunities for Riverbed’s solution provider partners as well.
“It will provide really good opportunities for both ISVs and solution partners to increase their revenues,” Noll said. “Solution provider partners will be able to sell much larger solutions, and put their own services around those new larger solutions. They will be able to go back into their install base, with increased upsell and cross-sell opportunities. The more integrated solutions they will have access to will also differentiate them in the market and reduce some competition.”
Noll said they had contracts from ten ISV partners for the program signed, with more coming in every day.
“By the end of the year, we expect 30-50 partners, and at the end of next year, 80 to 100,” he said.
