Vendor sees revenue grow and claims that WAN optimisation space is waiting to be exploited.

F5 Networks has claimed that its focus on the application level of network security has enabled the WAN optimisation vendor to expand its channel presence.

The vendor also claimed that the WAN optimisation space is an area the channel can exploit.

Paul Jenkinson, UK channel manager at F5 Networks, told CRN: “Network firewalls do not stop hackers. You need products at the application level of a network.”

Jenkinson said the channel has been vital to the vendor’s recent growth, which has seen turnover rise from $270m last year to a projected figure of more than $400m this year.

“We always want more resellers to service demand, but we are also happy with the work of our current VARs. We are not a single-digit margin vendor. There is a lot of extra value-add the channel can offer,” he claimed.

Jenkinson said F5 has seven to eight Gold partners, with a further three to four in training. It is also recruiting at least 10 VARs a quarter.

Bernie Dodwell, European security manager at Westcon, which signed with F5 earlier in the year (CRN, 13 February) said: “F5 has a good security pedigree. It is head and shoulders above other vendors. We started recruiting F5 VARs in February. We have had some success with our Cisco resellers because F5 complements the Cisco product set.”

Steve Palmer, director of marketing at rival Zeus Technology, said: “We come up against F5 a lot. It has a 60 per cent share of the advanced sector of the application delivery controllers market. Cisco and Juniper both have 15 per cent shares. As a new entrant, we have five per cent.”

Palmer added that Zeus differs from F5, which is a traditional networking firm, by offering its products in a software format that runs on Linux and VMware.