D-Link Corporation, a global leader in connectivity solutions for small, medium and large enterprise business networking, has announced that it is preparing to launch a new SMB Partner Program, as part of the company’s enhanced focus in this segment in the Middle East and Africa (MEA).
According to the vendor that manufactures solutions in the IP Surveillance, Wireless, Switching, Storage, Security, Cloud, VoIP, Print Servers, Structured Cabling, Digital Home, 3G/4G Routers, Power over Ethernet Kit, Powerline, KVM, Structured Cabling and Digital home offerings, the company has started to push its latest SMB offerings in the MEA market and it’s crucial that it has a dedicated programme for partners targeting small businesses that incentivises and rewards them.
Sakkeer Hussain, Director – Sales and Marketing, D-Link Middle East and Africa, said the SMB initiative will be offered under the umbrella D-Link Partner Program and is aimed at incentivising and supporting channel partners to grow their share of business in this sector.

“The SMB market is one of the strongest segments in this region and there are a lot of small and medium sized companies spread throughout the region,” he noted.

Hussain said the SMB market is by far the strongest performing segment for D-Link and for this reason, the company has decided to launch a partner programme dedicated to resellers targeting SMBs. “Along with the programme which is being finalised, we are designing a lot of incentive programmes and training schemes for partners that play in the SMB space as part of the broader programme offerings,” he said.

He explained that the main difference with D-Link’s SMB approach is that it will be engaging partners that have the desire and appetite to learn, grow and make a real difference to small businesses. “We are not going to approach the SMB market by going after established VARs or systems integrators, but will go after resellers we believe can develop and share the same aspiration to grow in the SMB market,” he added.

He said this approach will help the company to recruit channel partners that would like to grow the D-Link brand in the SMB market.

He said to complement the incentive schemes and rebates that will be offered under the programme,
D-Link will also continue to roll out trainings on two fronts. “The first type of training focuses on pre-sales training and it’s tailored towards pre-sales engineers and sales staff working for our channel partners,” he said. “The other kind of training is technical and it’s a five-day programme that takes candidates through the detailed issues including product installation and it is conducted by highly qualified D-Link engineers. The technical training also focuses on trouble shooting and is meant for technical staff employed by our channel partners.”

Hussain said in addition, the company does conduct training at partner premises, which focuses on updates on new technology, products and how they can pitch D-Link solutions to customers.