Unified storage company Reldata goes channel-only

Reldata, which has a new CEO in Steven Murphy (recently of Plasmon), is abandoning its hybrid distribution model and will rely only on channel partners to sell its unified storage systems. Lanie Kruger, channel/business development director, said that the company has found that it’s more cost-effective to sell to its target customers – midmarket IT organizations — through its channel partners rather than via an internal sales force.

The company is also launching new partner program today. The program includes deal registration/deal protection with 40% margins for its resellers; those who don’t register a deal get a 5% margin. There’s also an enhanced partner portal, a 15% bonus for VARs who sell the company’s support contracts and quarterly sales incentives.

Right now, Reldata has about 60 VAR partners worldwide, but not all of them are active. It’s aiming for 75 to 100 active partners. Kruger said that the company’s products, which combine file- and block-based storage in one device, are well-suited for the upper low end and lower midrange of the storage market. She said that its customers are concentrated in the health care, education, financial services and government agencies.

Reldata in September upgraded its RELvos operating system, a storage virtualization system for the company’s 9240i unified storage platform, to Version 2.4.

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