Data protection vendor plans to recruit resellers through sole distributor Sphinx

Endpoint data protection vendor GuardianEdge is looking to boost its UK channel presence by recruiting more partners through its sole UK distributor Sphinx, following the announcement of its new partner programme.

The US-based vendor has been active in the channel for the past five years and has used Sphinx to grow its presence.

GuardianEdge is now looking to enlist about 20 resellers as part of a recruitment programme to expand its presence in Europe.

Joe Hoban, vice president of global channel sales for GuardianEdge, said: “We have built our UK strategy around Sphinx and anticipate that the majority of our new partners will come from the distributor.

We need people who understand issues of security and Sphinx offers us a critical understanding of the UK market.”

Hoban added that the company expects channel sales to contribute 80 per cent of its turnover in the next 12 months and that a channel policy is vital for its growth.

“We need broader market coverage and that’s what our partners will provide us with,” he said.

“We anticipate that 40 per cent of turnover will be from the channel this year and expect to double that by the end of 2008.”

New data protection laws soon to be introduced are expected to create increased demand for security products across the sector.

Tim Wiggins, GuardianEdge product manager at Sphinx, said: “We are expecting a considerable increase in demand because of the new laws.

“The partner programme is suitably placed to deal with this and recruiting more partners should place us in a good position to capitalise on it.”

Hoban added: “When the changes are implemented, our partners will become more important as we grow. The programme is geared to ensuring this happens.”