Brocade to introduce partner council in India

UMBAI, INDIA: Network solutions provider Brocade Communications will launch its first partner council in India around November.

This council comes on the heels of the new Alliance Partner Network (APN) channel program that the company has rolled out in the country this June. Talking about the creation of the partner council, Barbara Spicek, VP-Worldwide Channels, Brocade said, “It is very important that if we are launching a partner program, especially if we are in the transition time (Brocade's acquisition of Foundry Networks), then we should find out if what we are launching is the right thing.”

Till recently, Brocade had councils for end-customers where they tested their technologies, but this is the first time it is creating a similar format for its channel partners. This aside, the company will soon launch its official service provider program in September.

Brocade is also planning to sign up another distributor, in addition to Bengaluru-based Inflow Technologies, shortly. It has decided to limit the number of distributors it has in the country to a maximum of three. Similarly the company is now planning to expand its channel network to encompass networking partners who can position Brocade and Foundry products jointly. Brocade is now focusing on three verticals this year-data centers, campus networks and service providers-which together present a business opportunity of $66 billion globally.

This program has five tiers-global system integrator partner, technical alliance partner, distributors and resellers, OEM partners and support delivery partner. In the distributor and reseller tier, there are three levels- Elite, Premier and Select partners.