CA signs Westcon for Aussie channel drive

Looks to friend resellers.

CA Technologies has extended a partnership with Westcon across the ditch to distribute its enterprise solutions in Australia.

Under the new agreement, Westcon will deliver CA’s security, service assurance, cloud, virtualisation, automation, service portfolio management and project portfolio management (PPM) products to a “very targeted” and select group of Westcon resellers.

“Partnering with Westcon isn’t a numbers game for CA Technologies; we’re looking for the right partnerships, not the most partners,” Klasie Holtzhausen, CA's A/NZ channel director, told CRN.

“To get our coverage strategy right we have to continue to strengthen our partner ecosystem by cultivating the right partners who have the right skills and the right business models, in the appropriate markets and industry segments.”

CA wants to redress perceptions it had been a less-than-friendly channel company. Last year it announced a global revamp of its partner program which included a heightened emphasis on software for managing cloud solutions. Also last year, CA Australia added two experienced executives to its channel ranks, snatching both Robert Watson and Beth Ryan from IBM. 

Holtzhausen was tight-lipped on the details of the program - expected to start rolling out this month - but said it would be geared towards partners that showed a commitment to achieving certification and accreditation. 

Only About 40 percent of CA's ANZ revenues flow through its partners at the moment, but the company said it wanted to grow this over the coming month.

CA joins a list of Westcon vendors including Cisco, Avaya, McAfee, and Riverbed.