Unitrends Expands Channel Reach Through Tech Data Partnership

Tech Data resellers will now have access to Unitrends' all-in-one backup, archiving, instant recovery and disaster recovery solutions. In turn, Unitrends will be able to leverage the benefits of a Cisco certification alliance and a larger network of resellers and MSPs.

Columbia, S.C.-based Unitrends is turning toward the channel to rely on it for its main source of revenue, and the announcement shows the company's commitment to the channel, said Unitrends Channel Chief Bob Gagnon.

[Related: Tech Data To Partners: We Make It Easy For You To Have A Cloud Business ]

"This is something new and different for us. [The channel program] is going to be something we are going to want to continue to build on," Gagnon said. "We're trying to get a seedling environment where people are starting to use the product."

Over the past 18 months, the company has grown from 55 percent channel sales to 70 percent channel sales, Gagnon said, with currently around 500 partners.

"You can't just really turn the switch on overnight to go 100 percent channel," Gagnon said. "Finding Tech Data is one of the big reasons why we continue in that direction."

Unitrends used to work with another distributor but said Tech Data was able to offer opportunities for growth that the other distributor could not.

Tech Data said that it looks forward to the Unitrends partnership to enhance its portfolio of disaster recovery solutions, calling it one of the "hottest categories of cloud products in the industry right now." Tech Data said that it was particularly drawn to Unitrends' heterogeneous recovery option, providing one solution for a variety of different cloud offerings.

"It's a big thing -- if you look at the whole MSP market, I think backup disaster recovery comes in first, if not second, for an MSP to offer. So we're kind of in that sweet spot," Gagnon said.

Along with the partnership news comes a kickoff deal from Unitrends, offering a limited-time deal that gives end users who purchase a Cisco Unified Computing System a 5 TB license of Unitrends Enterprise Backup, worth approximately $24,000.

PUBLISHED OCT. 15, 2013