Wanova Launches Partner Program for Desktop Virtualization

We took a look at Wanova in August 2010 when the company announced it was giving away free trials of its Mirage Desktop Virtualization. (That’s still happening.) Now, Wanova has gone and created a full partner program for resellers, distributors and MSPs. Here are some details.

Wanova Mirage software provides ‘hybrid desktop virtualization,’ which basically means that physical PCs are managed regardless of their location and simultaneously backed up through the enterprise infrastructure. Since the solution runs on top of standard enterprise Windows servers and environments and is more than just basic virtualization, Wanova is looking for partners that are enterprise-focused and have a good knowledge of storage, networking and servers. The company believes that a reseller who is well-qualified can leverage Mirage into a turnkey solution for customers.

The program breaks down into the traditional Distributor, Reseller and MSP levels, with Distributor-level partners reselling Mirage to customers in their own territory and providing Tier 1 support. Those at the reseller level will sell the solution directly with Wanova providing the support. MSP-level partners will sell, host and manage the services from Wanova.

Of course, the program is replete with marketing tools, partner portals and all the training information needed.

Michele Borovac, VP of marketing at Wanova, described the advantage she believes Wanova Mirage can provide: “Unlike traditional VDI technology, we distribute execution to the endpoint. It allows [IT] guys to manage centrally or [allows MSPs] to expand services and charge for them.”

She noted that this is the official rollout of an unofficial program Wanova has had with a few select partners. “The launch is now actively recruiting new partners. We’ve put together an aggressive package of both margins and the ability to wrap additional services around deployment,” she said.

Howard Greenfield, VP of sales, said the Mirage solution addresses a sweet spot where virtualization, mobility and backup have inevitably needed to converge. “WAN is the complete greenfield opportunity [and] the market has proliferated,” he said.

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