Data center server and storage company Rackable Systems is looking to double the ranks of its channel partners and has built the infrastructure and products designed just for its end market. It's all part of Rackable's plan to address the SMB market, an area that is relatively new to a company such as Rackable, whose customers have included MSN, Amazon.com, Facebook and YouTube.

Rackable Systems' new channel program, the Eco-Partner Program, will offer qualified partners deal registration, qualified lead distribution, the use of the Rackable Configurator that has been used by the company's direct sales force, joint sales engagement and business development, and joint go-to-market campaigns and events. Partners will also get a partner portal.
Rackable currently has about 20 channel partners and is looking to add 10 to 15 more. To qualify, partners must do $500,000 in sales and hold certain certifications. Rackable plans to vet partners who apply at the portal, and partners who do not qualify can still serve as authorized partners, according to George Skaff, vice president of marketing at Rackable. And Rackable is looking to make it easier for partners to do business with it.

"Our existing channel partners have come back to us asking for products to serve the SMB market," Skaff says.

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To answer that call, Rackable has created a standard set of SKUs for partners to sell, plus they can still configure their own by using the company's configurator.  It's the same tool used by Rackable's direct sales force and now patched into the company's partner portal.

Overall, channel partners are expected to do deals that are smaller than the ones the direct sales force does – in the $5 million to $10 million range. However, "If a channel partner brings a deal to us, it will always be their account," says Skaff.  "We are not going to have a channel partner bring a deal to us and then take it direct."

Rackable's formalization of its channel partner program comes a few weeks after the company cut its revenue outlook and announced plans to lay off 15 percent of its work force.

Rackable cut its revenue forecast for 2008 to between $245 million and $250 million. In October the company's 2008 revenue forecast called for revenues of between $275 million and $300 million.

Rackable said that the layoffs would save $4 million to $5 million annually.