At its National Partner Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., this week, German-based surveillance solutions manufacturer Mobotix formally announced that it is nearly set to launch its much anticipated channel partner program for the company’s distributors and installers.
According to Dr. Magnus Ekerot, the company’s chief sales officer, the Mobotix Global Partner Network is similar to ones offered by competing surveillance vendors in that it looks to create loyalty between the company and its channel partners. However, Ekerot explained that the company has a different strategy with its program in that they are not strictly focused on driving sales volume, but rather providing integrators with the resources necessary to compete for and win quality projects.
"The goal is to maintain a stable margin… not being the biggest volume dealer in the world," said Ekerot. "We’re focused on being the best."
Ekerot said that the company uses a two-tiered distribution model. Tier 1 partners consist of Authorized Mobotix Distributors, while Tier 2 partners are comprised of installers, systems integrators, etc.
The key to the partner program, according to Ekerot, are the Tier 2 partners and the company’s dedicated direct distributors.
"Mobotix has not been very good at addressing the needs and wants of our Tier 2 partners," he explained.
Ekerot added that the company will never undercut its channel partners by selling directly to end users as some other vendors do.
"We will never sell directly to end users," he said. "That is because we are living from this eco-system."
In addition to Authorized Mobotix Distributors (AMD), there are different partner levels within the program that come with varying degrees of commitment and associated benefits, which include Unregistered Mobotix Partners (UMP), Registered Mobotix Partners (RMP), Certified Mobotix Partners (CMP), and Advanced Mobotix Partners (AMP).
Though the company has wanted to launch the partner program for some time, Ekerot said that they had to complete the build out of all the backend infrastructure necessary to ensure that it would operate smoothly when it went live.
The Mobotix Partner Program is expected to be formally launched later this summer in either July or August.
New Products
Mobotix partners at the conference got a first-hand look at a plethora of new products and accessories that the company will be rolling out in the coming months.
Among these new products include:
- The S14 FlexMount, a flexible double hemispheric camera. The camera features miniature lens units and is ideal for a wide variety of application scenarios.
- The company also unveiled the second generation of its D14D DualDome camera, which can record dual images with a resolution of up to 6.2 megapixels and features a vandalism sensor that can detect forced manipulation of the camera or the direction of the lens. The new D14D Day/Night Fix model is equipped with day and night sensors that are pre-installed and mounted precisely parallel to each other. The D14D-180-degree provides 180-degree panorama images that can be greatly magnified, both in live and recorded modes.
- The MX-NPS3 Network Power Switch can be used for connecting up to three IP cameras/end devices with a network cable and a power supply. A UMTS stick can also be used to make the connected end devices accessible wirelessly.
- Mobotix will be releasing several new weatherproof functional boxes including the MX-GPS-Box, MX-NPA-Box, MX-232-IO-Box and the MX-Repeater-Box. The appliances introduce useful features such as a central system time or act as power amplifiers. The functional boxes can be connected with all Mobotix cameras.
- The company is also introducing several new products for its T24 Door Station, which you can read about in our story on Mobotix’s business strategy.
