Radware tempts channel with upgrade to Nortel ‘fire sale’ product line

Application delivery specialist Radware has launched a new flagship product based on the Nortel Alteon product line it acquired from the distressed telecoms provider earlier this year.

The new Alteon 5412, aimed at service providers and carriers, is part of a push to recruit and train a larger and more active channel in the UK.  Radware has also appointed Paul Jenkinson, formerly of rivals F5 Networks as its channel manager for the UK & Ireland to spearhead its new channel partner programme.

“The UK has always been a bit of a problem for us,” is the candid view of Guri Geva, Radware's regional director UK and Northern Europe. Geva believes that Radware has always had a strong technical offering but concedes that it had sometimes failed in the past to get its message across.

With its more focused approach he believes “The race is not over, in fact, the race is going to be escalated.”

He highlights rivals such as F5, which in his view “can't scale and nobody wants to pay extra for features they don’t need or have a major upgrade when they reach capacity.”

The Alteon product line was acquired from Nortel in March this year for $18m. Nortel originally bought Alteon in 2002 for around $7.8bn making it a good deal for Radware which has seen 24 percent revenue growth compared to Q3 of 2008. Geva believes alongside good technology, the deal also brought Radware an installed customer base it had failed to reach before.

The new Alteon application delivery appliances will use software locks to allow customers to only pay for the capacity and features they need at time of purchase. Additional elements can then be unlocked and licensed when required. Geva believes, especially in the current economic climate, a “pay as you grow” model is extremely compelling.

On the channel side, the appointment of Jenkinson, previously UK channel manager at F5 Networks is part of a concerted effort to strengthen its local footprint. When Jenkinson joined Radware in March of this year, the vendor had only four certified partners but a recent recruitment drive has seen around 10 to 15 new firms join its partner training programme in the last quarter alone.

“Carrier [class] and government are key areas” is the view of Jenkinson, “We are more focused than our rivals, we are growing and offer a lot more potential to our channel partner with higher gross margins.” he adds.