02 March 2023

Jon Selway, vice president of channel sales (EMEA), Aryaka

As the volume of data, applications, security threats and technologies increase, network management can quickly become complex, especially for businesses and their channel partners.

Thankfully, converged SD-WAN and SASE solutions can remove many, if not all, of those headaches. In turn, this enables resellers to evolve and become even more essential to their customers’ operations.

But with customer knowledge of SD-WAN still low, how can channel partners accelerate the adoption of SD-WAN and SASE to enable their customers to realise their digital transformation goals?

Design a compelling proposition for SD-WAN and SASE

To drive adoption of SD-WAN and SASE, partners must create a compelling value proposition by addressing CIOs’ and business owners' challenges to generate leads and drive interest.

Typically, decision-makers are concerned about enabling true digital transformation while ensuring global network and application performance, security, and reliability – all of which can be solved via a thoroughly planned and deployed SD-WAN and SASE solution.

That said, even when the right technology is found, headaches can quickly become migraines during purchasing. Complex pricing structures and contract terms can delay deployment and sometimes dissuade customers from moving forward. Therefore, a simple product tiering strategy and pricing structure are both vital for resellers to win sales more quickly and easily.

The most supportive vendor partners will also take that lead generation one step further and help develop bespoke marketing campaigns for those key targets, crafting messaging that speaks directly to the end-customers’ individual challenges and goals.

For example, focusing on the environmental benefits of SD-WAN to a potential customer that widely promotes its green credentials, or emphasising the benefits of a robust global network to international organisations, using examples from areas where the target has offices.

Choose the right provider for SD-WAN and SASE

Any worthy SD-WAN and SASE provider partner will stand by its resellers throughout the sales journey, helping them capture leads in their target size or vertical, ensuring the best possible onboarding experience for new customers, and delivering services according to established SLAs.

A solid vendor will assist in sales conversations, fielding the complex questions to ensure prospects are fully onboard and confident that their infrastructures – and, by extension, their businesses – are in safe hands.

Great vendors will also support your lead generation, qualifying leads before passing them on to whichever partner is most local, best equipped, or already has existing relationships with other vendors within the customers’ IT stack to ensure the most seamless, responsive, and comprehensive solution possible.

Nor should the vendor/reseller collaboration stop when the deal is done or once the solution is deployed. Future upsell opportunities and upsizing services play a considerable part in maximising channel revenue, as the customer grows, and needs evolve. Examples include adding SASE functionality to an existing SD-WAN deployment, expanding an SD-WAN solution to further satellite offices, or adding VPN overlays to ensure privacy for home and remote workers.

Enabling resellers to transform

In such a commoditised telecoms market, where many business customers are simply looking for the fastest speeds at the lowest price, many traditional resellers have started to evolve.

These forward-thinking organisations are transforming into managed service providers, not only to differentiate themselves and boost service levels, but also to capture more revenue from their customers. In turn, repositioning themselves as essential long-term partners for end-customers' ongoing success, meaning longer-term relationships based on trust, not the lowest possible price.

In short, resellers should select a provider that helps them nurture relationships beyond the initial sale. That can include regular reporting, quarterly check-ins, and identifying potential upsell opportunities.

Ultimately, it all comes back to making life easier for networking and security IT professionals to accelerate their customers’ business success, solve problems and foster growth for all parties involved!