StorServer gets aggressive in Canadian channel market

StorServer Inc., a data backup, archive and disaster recovery vendor, will be “getting more aggressive” in the Canadian market this year according to Kevin Burns, the company’s vice-president of worldwide marketing.

The 15-year old privately-held company is based in Colorado Springs, Colo. and focuses on the mid-market. Burns said StorServer classifies mid-market businesses as being anywhere from 100 to 1,000 employees.

With about 300 channel partners around the world, Burns said there are currently 10 active partners in Canada. This year, he said the company will be “getting more aggressive” in this space. The company also has two dedicated channel managers that focus on Canada but are based in the U.S., he added.

“We only sell through the channel and we’d like to add another 100 partners,” he explained. “We’re looking for IT resellers who focus on the mid-market space and also those small, Ma and Pa-type reseller shops.”

Burns joined the company last summer, following an executive-level position at Hitachi.

“I had to get the StorServer Partner Program (SP3) going,” Burns said. “I reached out to partners and asked and listened to what they wanted. I found we needed to provide better lead generation, better product education and a better partner portal. Before, it was hard (for partners) to sell because they usually had to go several places online just to find certain things.”

The new program includes elements such as training, lead generation tools, return on investment (ROI) calculators and multimedia offerings. The company also has a social networking community called storForce available to partners, which has resources such as data sheets, case studies and a blog.

“We’ve aligned collateral in the program so everything fits into where the partner is in the sales cycle,” Burns said. “We also have consolidated social media tools and ongoing education all in one place with storForce. Our goal is to be more transparent with our partners.”

Partners will receive double-digit margins on StorServer products, Burns explains, with those partners in the higher level tiers earning more margin points.

The StorServer solution portfolio includes a Backup Appliance and a variety of Backup Software and Backup Services. The company also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on its products and is one that “fortunately no one has taken advantage of yet,” Burns said.

“In Canada, we’re focused on the education, healthcare and finance markets,” Burns said. “We’re also looking at doing business outside of North America, but right now, our focus is on the North American market first.”

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Maxine Cheung
Maxine Cheung
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