Trend Micro introduces globally-acclaimed Affinity Partner Program in India

The program optimally balances needs of the learning curve with needs to tap greater business potential

New Delhi, November 5, 2008 – Trend Micro, a global leader in network antivirus and Internet content security software and services, has introduced in India its brand-new Affinity Partner Program designed to foster deeper, more profitable relationships with channel partners in the Asia Pacific region.

Says Mr. Amit Nath, Country Manager - India & SAARC, Trend Micro, "The Affinity Partner Program has been thoughtfully designed to offer broad-ranging, tangible benefits to resellers that will help them speed up time-to-market, lower the cost of doing business, and identify newer revenue streams to help broaden their customer base and increase profitability." With the introduction of this program, Trend Micro expects a 50% growth in its number of channel partners in India.

The program comprises of three levels of membership – AffinityOne, AffinityPlus and Affinity – with different benefits depending on accreditation status. The program is designed beyond the revenue commitment from Trend Micro's partners and provides them with the opportunity to advance through the program based on five categories instead of just on the basis of revenue commitments – coverage, contribution, commitment, capability, and capacity.

Says Mr. Nath, "Trend Micro is a 100-percent channel-focused company. This implies that Trend Micro's sales are generated exclusively through our partners, and that Trend Micro does not sell directly to end-customers. Our loyalty to our channel partners is demonstrated by the fact that we do not compete with our channel partners: Every rupee of our revenue comes through our partners, who are our lifeblood." Agrees Mr. Vishal Bindra, CEO of Delhi-based ACPL Systems Pvt. Ltd., who has been a channel partner with Trend Micro since 1999, "Trend Micro actually goes that extra mile with their channel partners. They helped us establish ACPL as a renowned information security player in India. From being a company focused only on SMB, Trend helped us become a broader company also focused on providing Enterprise Security Solutions."

Mr. V. Anand, Chief Executive of Chennai-based Raksha Technologies shares a similar experience, "We have been associated with Trend Micro since day 1 of our inception in October 2000. We are thankful to Trend Micro for having helped us grow alongwith them. The association helped us carve a unique identity for ourselves in the market - we could demonstrate Trend Micro capabilities to our customers in gateway and centralized management which was very new to the customers in those days with minimal competition." There have been beautiful times where both Trend and Raksha have enjoyed benefits; and there also have been worst times where we both fought as a team to overcome challenging issues. It has really grown and we expect it to grow more, adds Mr. Anand.

Text Box: Affinity Program seeks to ensure Trend Micro's ‘easier to do business with' philosophy in all aspects of channel relationshipsThe Affinity Program seeks to ensure Trend Micro's ‘easier to do business with' philosophy in all aspects of our channel relationships." We aim to create mutually profitable relationships that recognize the rich diversity of our channel community while letting them thrive and grow according to their individual potential. The Affinity Program instils a confidence that encourages partners to invest further in their relationship with Trend Micro, knowing that their investment will be recognized and deliver a profitable return for their business, he added.

AffinityOne Partners include highly qualified and committed organizations that autonomously drive the revenue of Trend Micro within their markets, and have already demonstrated a sizeable commitment to Trend Micro by a continuing revenue pattern. They qualify to offer best-of-breed technical support to their customers, building up credibility and value for their service, and are eligible to the highest level of benefits from Trend Micro. AffinityPlus Partners are Value Added Resellers who manage projects and business with medium complexity and size. Integration with other security vendors is part of their qualifications to offer a trustworthy service to the customer. Affinity Partners are at the entry level of the Trend Micro Affinity Partner Program, whom the company helps grow to higher levels of engagement, to ensure optimisation of the partner benefits available.

Among some of the key resources of the Affinity Partner Program, member partners get access to the new Affinity PartnerWeb, a portal that empowers channel partners with Profile Manager that provides key partner demographic and usage information; Event Manager; eMarketing; online Sales Lead and Opportunity Management resource; Motivation and Incentives; and, Deal and Bid Registration to register sales opportunities and special pricing requests, and to receive Trend Micro support and incentives.

Besides this, partners also receive higher rebates and attractive margins to increase their sales, and also are able to use Trend Micro products for testing and training in order to sell them effectively. In terms of technical support, partners receive support ranging from on a 24/7 basis with shared Technical Account Manager(s) access to a toll-free and email support, to having contact 24/7, depending on their accreditation level within the program.

Text Box: Even the smallest investment of time can result in incremental revenues for the channel partners"Never has there been such a clear value proposition as that offered by Trend Micro's Affinity Partner Program. When even the smallest investment of your time can result in incremental revenues, this is the partner program for your business," said Mr. Nath.

Adds Mr. Bindra of ACPL, "Trend Micro's Affinity program will give us lot of value especially on the service and support side. It also recognizes our efforts in more commercial ways than ever before. In that way, not only will it help smoothen our business and in turn our improved support to end-customer, but will also reward the stakeholders. We at ACPL are really looking forward to full-fledged implementation of Affinity program."

For the second time in 3 years, Trend Micro has been recognized as the top vendor in CRN's Channel Champion Security Software categories in a survey of solution providers. In India, Trend Micro has won Most Trusted Company Award by VAR India three times in row.

To learn more about the Affinity Partner Program, visit

http://apac.trendmicro.com/apac/partners/affinity-partner/index.html, or to contact local channel sales directly to apply as a Trend Micro Affinity Partner, visit

http://apac.trendmicro.com/apac/about/contact_us/apac/index.html.

Source : Equity Bulls

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