Quest and One Identity, which Dell is selling to private equity firms, are prepping new channel partner programs for the IT management and identity management markets. Chatter about the efforts emerged at PEAK 16, a Dell SonicWall partner summit this week in Las Vegas.
Quest, which Dell acquired in 2012, offers a range of IT management software for physical and virtual infrastructure, application performance management (APM) and more. Sources say a new, formalized partner program will launch once the company's sale to Francisco Partners and Elliott Management is finalized. The sale is expected to be official in the November 2016 timeframe or so.
Quest is a large, mature business that has a strong following among corporate IT managers. I don't know what Quest's official name will be once the company is independent. (The QuestSoftware.com domain, by the way, is currently owned by another company.)
One Identity: Fast-Growth Opportunities?
In contrast, One Identity has about 600 employees and focuses on the fast-growing identity and access management (IAM) market. One Identity will operate as independent organization with its own P&L (profit and loss) responsibilities, falling under the Quest Software umbrella.
That essentially means One Identity should have the best of both worlds -- the ability to make strategic decisions quickly in an independent way, while also leveraging Quest's company infrastructure for day-to-day business operations.
One Identity's customer base typically involves companies with 5,000 to 300,000 knowledge workers. The channel drives roughly 10 percent of the organization's revenue today, but One Identity's multi-year business plan calls for channel partners to drive 40 percent of the company's revenues, according to Executive Director John Milburn.
Among One Identity's core priorities:
- A soft launch in November at the Gartner IAM 2016 conference and a more formalized launch around February 2017;
- A formalized partner program for systems integrators and resellers; and
- A range of SaaS solution launches.
IAM, SaaS and Midmarket Partners
Take a closer look at One Identity, and it's a safe bet the longer-term direction will involve more recurring revenue opportunities for VARs pushing into managed services. And I suspect the SaaS offerings will allow the company to more efficiently come down-market, serving midsize businesses with 2,000 to 3,000 seats.
Dell decided to sell Quest Software, One Identity and SonicWall ahead of the EMC buyout. The move helped Dell to strengthen the company's balance sheet in parallel with financing the EMC acquisition. Dell's purchase of EMC will be official on Sept. 7, essentially creating a combined company called Dell Technologies.
