Don’t ignore the SMBs, warns AppRiver

Recruitment of people represented as wooden blocks

Email and web security vendor, AppRiver, is at Infosec 2014 to find UK channel partners as it undertakes a major expansion in EMEA.

With around 20 resellers on its books currently, AppRiver is looking to increase this number by as many as the market will allow. According to Jim Tyer, director of channels, AppRiver, the company is looking for partners that haven’t yet ventured into cloud services and web security, as well as experienced partners that are looking to take on new vendors and stronger solutions.

Although AppRiver partner programme is “pretty solid as it is”, it will be enhanced in the coming months. The vendor cites its 93 percent retention rate as a major draw for customers, primarily due to its free 24/7 support on all its products. “Support is our number one selling point. It’s the reason we don’t need to offer year-long contracts because we are so confident our customers will stay with us,” says Tyer.

The company is looking to replicate its success in the US SMB market in the UK and says its focus on this sector will reap rewards for its channel partners. “The channel is missing out on a huge opportunity by ignoring the SMB market. While our solutions are scalable to the enterprise, there is more competition in this area and as a consequence, margins are lower for partners,” says Tyer.

AppRiver sees a number of other growth areas for savvy UK resellers, particularly in cloud security. The company notes that while UK resellers understand the cloud and how to sell it, they can learn more about security in the cloud from their European counterparts.

“A major security issue is unsecure email and businesses are only now just starting to realise this. Other European markets are beginning to sell this aggressively and we believe it’s a significant growth area for UK resellers. Another potential high-growth area is email encryption for mobile devices,” says Tyer.

AppRiver: Stand: D20

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