iland Internet Solutions Corp. is rolling out a new channel program; its lure is the promise of virtualization.
Virtualization lets you run multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine, sharing the resources of that single computer across multiple environments. Different virtual machines can run different operating systems and multiple applications on the same physical computer. Among the advantages are lower cost and greater redundancy.
Recognizing this fundamental shift in the way people compute, Houston-based iland is rolling out a new solution set, iland Cloud Services (iCS), based on the platform by VMware Inc..
To help evangelize the virtues of virtualization, iland is making its first big push to build an indirect sales channel. Previously, the company had an ad hoc program with less than 20 agents selling its colocation and servers; high-speed IP connectivity; and managed network, security and storage services.
To champion its new program, which covers its legacy and new product set, the company brought in Dante Orsini as channel sales director in October. Orsini has more than 10 years’ experience in direct and indirect channel sales. Most recently he was vice president of corporate development for CorePlus Inc., a startup grid computing company, where he developed direct and indirect channel strategies.
Orsini has support from a global accounts manager and a sales engineer, but those resources are shared with the direct sales team while the program ramps up.
While the obvious target for selling cloud computing services are systems integrators and data VARs, Orsini said there is opportunity for telephony agents as well. In fact, iland has set up the program to include different levels of participation based on the channel partners’ skill sets.
The most hands-off option is a referral program, which offers a one-time bounty equal to the percentage of the monthly recurring charge for a converted lead. But there also is an agent program, which pays a commission equal to a percentage of the contract value paid after the third month of the contract. iland bills the customer and handles all the after-sale support. Finally, for the tech-savvy, the reseller program offers wholesale discounts to partners that want to handle their own billing and customer support.
