AppRiver Announces Highest Ever Year-Over-Year Channel Growth

Renewed Focus on Channel Strategy & Increased Relationship Management Drives Partner Growth and Revenue

AppRiver, LLC, a leading provider of email messaging and Web security solutions, recently announced a 30-percent increase in channel revenue, marking its largest year-over-year increase. This tremendous channel growth in 2014 stems in part from a renewed focus on relationship management within the global partner program and a growing relationship with Microsoft. As a result, the company now boasts that more than half of its overall revenue is driven by the channel, and it expects to see 40 percent more growth in 2015.

In addition to the overall channel business growth in 2014, at the close of January 2015, AppRiver also reports:

• A 21-percent increase in active partners;
• A 16-percent increase in partner customers; and
• A 350-percent increase in the total number of partners engaged to sell Office 365.

“In 2014, we focused more on relationship management to ensure our partners could build profitable relationships with their customers,” says Justin Gilbert, channel sales manager, AppRiver. “This direction is resonating. Not only are we committed to equipping partners with the right tools, but we’re providing a cloud-based, comprehensive and affordable technology that protects businesses from the most sophisticated cyber threats.”

As part of the company’s mission to strengthen customer relationships, in 2014, AppRiver began participating in the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program. This allowed AppRiver to expand cloud sales opportunities by enabling partners to provide direct billing, sell combined offers and services, as well as directly provision, manage and support products and services.

2015 Channel Plans & Programs
“Evolving technology trends such as cloud computing, BYOD and sophisticated advanced persistent threats directed toward businesses are driving the adoption and demand of new security solutions,” said Jeff Malone, vice president of sales, AppRiver. “Not only have we designed our technology to keep businesses productive and information secure, but we’re helping resellers become trusted advisors to their clients.”

AppRiver is continuing to roll out a number of new partner perks in 2015 that will help its partners sell more efficiently. New diversified programs are designed to fit the unique needs of partners and customers and include:

• Partner Certification – Partners can learn the ropes at AppRiver University and earn certifications in both the sale and support of Office 365, Disaster Preparedness and more. AppRiver will also introduce partners to the ways they can receive discounted pricing on certifications offered through CompTIA.
• Lunch & Learn – One-hour training sessions that are designed to increase a partner’s competitive advantage and will cover anything from sales and support to migration issues for a wide variety of products. Together with CompTIA, AppRiver will also begin offering business agility training.
• Webinars – Short, to-the-point training webcasts about AppRiver products, management interfaces, and other diverse topics that include CompTIA’s Business Management, Agility to Cloud Computing and Mobile Device Management courses.
• Targeted Campaigns and Incentives – AppRiver will be offering partners various SPIFF rewards, including cash rewards and extended free trials.

Additionally, AppRiver will continue to offer its award-winning Phenomenal Care allowing partners to focus more on creating healthy profit margins.

“AppRiver continually proves that it understands what our customers need in today’s changing IT environment,” said Eric Montague, president, Executech. “In 2014, the combination of AppRiver’s unique partner programs and cutting-edge technology have helped us grow our business. We’re excited to leverage their newest programs launching in 2015 and look forward to further building our relationship with AppRiver in 2015 and beyond.”

About AppRiver
AppRiver is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider offering award-winning email and Web security solutions to businesses of all sizes. Understanding the need to protect networks from today's increasingly complex IT threats, AppRiver offers businesses a comprehensive, yet affordable subscription-based solution that incorporates the latest spam and virus protection, email encryption and Web security on the market. In addition, the company provides a complete managed service for Microsoft Exchange, as well as a bundled Office 365 solution. Since its inception, AppRiver has sustained an impressive 93% customer retention rate while growing its customer base to more than 47,000 companies and 8.5 million mailboxes worldwide. The company maintains offices in Florida, Georgia, Texas, New York, Switzerland and Spain, and is led by an Ernst & Young Florida Entrepreneur of the Year award winner. For more information, visit ww.appriver.com.