Exclusive: Letting the channel numbers do the talking...

Capitalising on growing demand for networking monitoring solutions, Paessler AG is engineering a move into the New Zealand channel market.

A feat of German engineering to be precise, for the Nuremberg-based company is making a strong play Down Under, and as the first man on the ground, ANZ Channel Manager Andrew Timms can report encouraging results.

“I was the first person on the ground in ANZ last year and since then we’ve received an amazing response,” says Timms, who is midway through a channel recruitment drive across the region.

As reported by The Channel, Paessler’s financial results from the first half of 2014 show a 40% increase in the number of local partners signed this year, resulting in a 26% increase in sales regionally.

Paessler reported a 25% sales growth in Australia and 30% growth in New Zealand, with both countries surpassing the sales results from the first half of 2013.

Furthermore, reseller rates grew significantly, reaching 29% across ANZ, compared to 18% achieved in the first half of 2013.

“We’ve just started to break into the New Zealand market through our alliance with Soft Solutions and already it has significantly helped strength out position in the market,” adds Timms, who is a regular visitor to New Zealand from his Queensland-base.

“I came to New Zealand to meet a few different partners and the response was fantastic.

“Through establishing a solid relationship with Soft Solutions and our partners, we doubled sales in our first month, had a huge month in June also and judging by the figures, it looks likely to carry on.”

A privately owned company, Timms attributes the increased interest in the network monitoring solution to the unique capabilities of its PRTG Network Monitor, Paessler’s flagship product and its integrated initiatives to support channel partners.

These include a Marketing Toolkit for resellers and the Certified Professional Program, through which more than 30 partners have qualified as Paessler Sales or Monitoring Professionals over the past year.

“We’ve put a lot of work into advertising the product through trade shows and communicating with the Kiwi market,” he adds.

“We also have an increased web presence and the market demand is now growing. We’ve had partners across ANZ before but they were all managed back at the head office in Germany.

“Whereas we now have Soft Solutions on board and they are really behind our plans. They fully understand the product and are prepared to get their hands dirty to make it a success.”

With strong sales in the USA and Europe, it was always going to be a matter of time before Paessler ramped up its efforts Down Under, with Timms aiming to aggressively expand the company’s footprint across the region in the coming months.

“We’re committed to doing more thing regionally, whether that’s holding seminars or round table events in both Australia and New Zealand,” he adds.

“The problem in the networking solutions market is that a lot of solutions promise the world but once they are installed are not up to scratch.

“Yet through PRTG we believe we have a winner - it’s a quarter of the price and provides all the functionalities organisations could ever need.”

In order to continue meeting the rising demand for network monitoring and testing solutions, Paessler has also hired Louise Flynn as Marketing Manager, APAC.

Based in Brisbane, Timms says Flynn will utilise several years’ experience in marketing and within the monitoring solutions industry to support the local team and drive continued growth.

“We’re covering all the bases and are looking to add more staff in the future and bring our Asia-Pacific head office to the region,” he adds.

Fuelled by demand, for Paessler, they seem content to let their numbers do the talking…