Brocade heads to networking market

Storage vendor Brocade is gunning for a slice of the IP networking market and has issued a war cry to the likes of Cisco, Juniper and Nortel, writes Channel Web.

The vendor is due to introduce a European partner programme and channel strategy in conjunction with its attack on the space over the next few weeks.

Brocade commenced its quest into the IP networking arena in December with the acquisition of switch and router company Foundry Networks, and recently appointed Amanda Giddins as EMEA channel sales director to drive the strategy.

CRM vendor FrontRange Solutions says it will implement a major revamp to its channel partner programme throughout the Asia-Pacific region, according to ARNnet.

FrontRange Solutions partner manager, Natalie Parsa, said the changes will be rolled out immediately for all the vendor's partners.

Under the new programme, the existing three-tier system will become a two-tier programme using one set margin level across all products with an additional referral programme.

Research from Integrated mar.com's Trusted Business Advisor and Gilwell Group discovered that vendor programme offerings are not keeping up to date with the needs of channel partners even as their online requirements for resources and support increase, states eChannelLine

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With more evidence showing that people don't take the time to read newspapers and magazines, and are instead turning to the Internet for up-to-the-minute information, a lot of vendors are falling behind when it comes to keeping their partner portals and communities up to date, said Michael Dubrall, MDof Gilwell Group.

"The old elevator pitch is now a Twitter pitch," Dubrall said during an Integrated mar.com Webinar entitled 'Social Media and Vendor Marketing Support'.