AppSense UK sales chief talks channel commitment

AppSense is looking to bolster its channel by recruiting a number of new partners, particularly Citrix, VMware and Microsoft VARs.

The user virtualisation, workspace and desktop management technology vendor currently has around 100 partners in EMEA.

AppSense’s VP for Northern Europe, Atif Ahmed tells Channel Pro: “Ultimately we want to be a pure-play channel organisation and to achieve this we have to provide our partners with the tools, resources, support and investment required to make us a profitable proposition for the channel.

“Key to this will be finding partners are capable of integrating our solutions with Citrix and VMware to deliver an optimal user experience. Having key partners with a first-rate understanding of the solutions from each company, and how they integrate is a key focus for us.”

Ahmed adds that AppSense is aiming to be easier to work with, by simplifying processes and assisting with new business, to make its partners more successful.

The exec joined AppSense in November from Websense, where he was VP of sales for the UK, Ireland and Benelux.

The vendor also recently appointed Zoe Clark as its channel sales director for the region. Clark – who is responsible for delivering AppSense’s channel programme to partners in Northern Europe – also joins from Websense, where she was director of channel sales. She previously worked at Check Point, as did Ahmed and AppSense EMEA SVP, Nick Lowe.

Says Lowe: “Atif and Zoe bring a wealth of experience in building, executing and managing channel partners and will help us accelerate our channel strategy both in the short and long term. We are delighted that they have chosen to join us, as their expertise will be of huge benefit to AppSense and our partners.”

The firm recently announced Computacenter, Kelway and Ultima as its first UK Platinum partners since the accreditation was launched last year.

As well as the new platinum tier, AppSense has introduced several new features to its channel operations over the past 12 months, including the appointment of an internal sales development team to generate new business leads for partners, a technical and a commercial learning management system and accreditations, and a revised and extended MDF for new and existing partners, as well as a deal registration system.

Says Ahmed: “The channel is key to our business and we are committed to investing in developing strong relationships with our partners, helping them improve revenues and increase margins.”