Cambium Networks' Programs, Tools Speed Partners' Path to Wi-Fi 6

Cambium Networks on Wednesday introduced new programs and tools for partners, distributors and MSPs to transition enterprise customers to Wi-Fi 6 technology.

Cambium’s new channel investments include an upgraded partner portal, a TCO Profiler software tool for comparing deployment options and a “not for resale” Wi-Fi 6 starter kit.

New investments also include:

Cambium’s Ron Ryan

Ron Ryan is Cambium‘s senior vice president of global channels. He said historical tiered metal programs are primarily based on volume and don’t adequately address the way the market works today.

One Size Fits All No Longer Works

“A ‘one size fits all’ program is ineffective for today’s more specialized vertical markets,” Ryan said. “Our new platform allows for the flexibility to uniquely engage partners in targeted segments to help them create demand for Cambium solutions.”

Partners can sell, deploy and manage Cambium’s new Wi-Fi 6 products. Those include two wireless access points, six multi-gigabit switches, and enhanced cloud-based software that simplifies wireless network design and deployment.

The new products are based on a software-defined radio architecture that increases Wi-Fi speeds while reducing ownership costs by up to 30% per megabit.

“Even though we already had a high promoter score with the previous program, feedback from partners was the driving force to improve it,” Ryan said. “Configure, price, quote (CPQ), segmentation, robust search engines and easy through-partner marketing tools all came from conversations with distributors and VARs. Many of our partners are small, privately held companies with 25 or fewer employees that don’t have marketing departments, large sales or administrative organizations. Our improved easy-to-use and intuitive platform is based on what is most valuable to our partners.”

Advantages for MSPs

MSPs with lean IT organizations can grow revenue by adding new users, locations and services with a turnkey MSP dashboard in Cambium’s cloud-based management system. They can also streamline onboarding of thousands of customers without requiring a technical expert on site.

With Cambium, MSPs and resellers can provide consistent user experiences because all enterprise sites are managed with a single pane of glass. MSPs can use open APIs to integrate their own differentiated service offerings. They also can connect services to management platforms including billing, ticketing and guest access.

“Internally we used the term frictionless when designing the program and tools,” Ryan said. “Popular program benefits, such as co-op for virtual events, digital marketing and telemarketing are now reimbursable at 100%. We’ve also made significant changes to our partner portal, including an easy-to-use search engine with filtering functionality to help partners quickly find what they need and partner-created personalized prospect pages that include relevant collateral, and partner branding and commentary that can be delivered to clients in multiple formats. Other practical changes include integrating the portal tools, such as deal registration, between our resellers and our distributors. The new system automates the process and makes the buying experience quick and seamless for our partners.”

The primary objective for the program is to make it easy for partners to promote the advantages of Cambium products and solutions, and to profit from the engagement, he said.

“We believe that replacing the tiered approach based on volume to an approach based on specialization and demand-creation allows for more partners to engage with Cambium and get a greater ROI,” Ryan said. “Another primary advantage is to help partners in specific segments expand their offerings into their existing customer base.”

“Cambium’s channel program gives partners the right tools and virtual online demonstration capabilities to be successful and support their continued growth,” said Zach Hubeck, vice president of sales and marketing at Wav. “The new TCO Profiler is a real game changer, making it extremely easy for us to visually showcase to our customers the value of Cambium’s Wi-Fi 6 technology and the benefits of upgrading their networks.”