Several key architects of D-Link’s current go-to-market strategy left the company starting in the fall of 2011. The exits included Nick Tidd, former D-Link North America president, and two of his top sales executives, Pat Piwowarczyk, former vice president, U.S. enterprise and channel sales, and Rod St. Michel, D-Link’s vice president of consumer sales.

Several more D-Link executives have also departed since then, CRN has learned, including Mark Ciprietti, vice president and general manager, business solutions division, D-Link Canada and also vice president, North American Channel DMR.

Partners have voiced concerns that the loss of so much channel acumen spells doom for D-Link’s program, but Steve Ryan, director of North American channel programs for D-Link, says that isn’t the case.

“We haven’t heard of any partners saying they’ll pull projects or stop selling D-Link product,” Ryan said. “They’ve obviously got one eye raised open watching whether we’re going to do what we’ll say we’ll do. But we maintain our commitment to the channel and we’re not making any changes to the program in a negative way.”

All of the current updates to D-Link’s channel program were developed starting last summer, before the executive departures began, Ryan said. Among the changes are that D-Link’s Value In Partnership (VIP) program has been renamed VIP+.

D-Link has a new partner portal that’s easier to navigate, Ryan said, as well as an easier claim process for D-Link sales rewards thanks in part to a new back-end supplier D-Link hired to manage administration of the program. D-Link is also providing an e-learning program through which partners can earn rewards for completion, and a new campaigns tool for providing D-Link partners access to customizable marketing material.

The program itself remains constitutionally the same. D-Link’s partnership tiers are Gold, Silver and Registered and it provides technology specializations within VIP+ for partners that focus on a particular segment of the D-Link line card: Storage Preferred, IP Surveillance Preferred and Security Preferred.

Partner certification will also remain free, Ryan said. D-Link is offering certification in three categories: D-Link Sales Specialist, for sales professionals; D-Link Certified Specialist, designed for pre-sales technical professionals; and D-Link Certified Professional, designed for network engineers. All of the course materials will still be downloadable on-demand, and the courses themselves self-paced.

“One thing I’ve constantly heard from partners in the past is, why would you charge me for training? Why would you charge me if I’m going to invest the time to learn about your products and solutions?” Ryan said. “Well, at D-Link, we agree with them.”

D-Link is continuing to solicit partner feedback, Ryan said. It will communicate VIP+ changes through VAR resources like its quarterly town hall-style meetings with partners.

“I’m asking them to reach out to me as well as getting the feedback from our channel account managers,” Ryan said. “Pretty much everything is driven by partner feedback and it’ll continue to be that way.

The VIP+ program will also be launching in Europe in February, Ryan said. VIP+ changes will take effect for North America partners on Feb. 7.

Fountain Valley-based D-link’s Amplifi HD Media Router 3000 was selected as the Consumer Electronic Show’s “Best of CES” winner for networking devices. The router, with its unique SharePort Mobile app, is capable of serving up data transfer speeds of up to 900 Mbps, automatic bandwidth prioritization and D-Link’s trademarked SharePort Cloud technology.

New products introduced at the conference were evaluated by the editors of CNET, an online technology news and business website, and the most innovative were selected as the Best of CES award winners.

D-Link’s high-performance device (model number DIR-857) also features 4Gb ports and USB 3.0, enabling faster streaming content. It also employs the company’s HD Fuel technology to automatically manage traffic flow. The device is designed to accommodate all home networking devices in a single hub, allowing connectivity between all at once while providing high-speed dual-band wireless on two channels of bandwidth operating simultaneously.

“We are honored to once again be recognized by CNET’s team of editors at CES this year, underscoring D-Link’s ongoing efforts to deliver leading home connectivity solutions and to bring a range of cloud services to home networks,” said Daniel Kelley, D-Link’s associate vice president of marketing for North America. CNET editors named D-Link products as finalists in the Best in CES evaluations in 2010 and 2009. “Whether gaming online, streaming HD media or extending your home network to multiple rooms, the new HD Media Router 3000 offers consumers high performance connectivity for a range of applications, as well as the ability to enjoy and share content anywhere, anytime.”

The new D-Link All-in-One Mobile Companion allows users to connect to a Wi-Fi network whenever available and also gives access to USB based sharing features, PC Mag reports.

The company explained that the device allowed users to share music, video, photos and other files between a USB drive or an external hard drive and their iPhone, iPad or Android devices.

The DIR-505 will also allow users to sync files and charge their smartphones, the company revealed while launching the product at the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas.

The All-in-One Mobile Companion, which is smaller than a standard computer mouse, also has an ethernet port to connect to the internet in a conference room or hotel room.

“The All-in-One Mobile Companion DIR-505 is perfect for travelers and mobile professionals, allowing people to access content on an external hard drive or thumb drive from any mobile device, as well as sync videos, music and photos, automatically,” said Daniel Kelley, associate vice president of marketing, D-Link North America.

“In addition, it serves as a great travel router/access point for instant wireless from any hotel or conference room where a network already exists,” he added.

SmartBeam, the company claims, constantly surveys the signals strength of multiple connected devices in order to provide a stable, seamless and interference-free wireless connection anywhere in the home.

Built into an interesting cylindrical design, the D-Link DIR-645 uses an array of six antennae to locate wireless client devices more accurately, focusing a direct beam on devices which report a poor signal strength.

In addition to theoretically eliminating signal blackspots, the SmartBeam technology should also increase speeds for devices on the periphery of the wireless network by increasing the quality of the signal and helping ward off interference from other wireles networks in the area.

“We love pushing the boundaries of design to ensure the consumer has the best possible experience, and could be more innovative than an intelligent router that identifies where wireless devices are and provides a better signal? Inspired by beamforming technology, the result is that consumers can now benefit from technology which was previously reserved for enterprise-grade applications,” claimed D-Link’s Andrew Mulholland at the launch.

“Furthermore, the D-Link router’s cutting edge design means that users will be happy to have it sitting at the heart of their homes. D-Link is proud to be the first company to bring this technology to market, blending our existing leadership in Wireless N with our networking expertise and understanding of the consumer’s needs in their Digital Home.”

The DIR-645 is available now priced at £80, with more SmartBeam-enabled products expected to follow in the near future.

The PowerLine AV 500 Gigabit Switch Kit delivers additional bandwidth through existing electrical wiring and outlets, enabling consumers to connect an entertainment system to the network from any room in the house with speeds of up to 500Mbps.

“With the increased usage of wirelessly-connected devices in homes, there is a huge demand for stronger and more reliable network connections,” says Daniel Kelley, associate vice president of consumer marketing, D-Link North America. “D-Link’s new Amplifi products address this demand by providing consumers top-shelf, high-performance products – whether you’re looking for increased signal strength and uninterrupted streaming of your favorite HD videos and music across the home network, or extra bandwidth for secure, fast connectivity to otherwise hard-to-reach places.”

Featuring data transfer rates of up to 600Mbps and HD Fuel®, the HD Media Router 2000 offers simultaneous N600 Dual Band (300Mbps + 300Mbps) for streaming HD videos and surfing the web at the same time. HD Fuel enables the built-in Quality of Service (QoS) engine to automatically prioritize high bandwidth activities for uninterrupted HD video streaming, gaming and VoIP calling. Unlike conventional routers, it is specifically designed to automatically provide extra bandwidth to certain activities, enhancing online entertainment and eliminating glitches or lags. The high-performance HD Media Router 2000 also allows users to stream online media content to multiple devices anywhere in the home, for the ultimate online entertainment experience. In addition, the new home network router features USB SharePort(TM) Plus with a USB 3.0 port for sharing virtually any USB-enabled device, such as a printer or storage device, across the home network at faster transfer rates. It also includes an SD Card slot for sharing media files with anyone on the home network, whether it’s a photo or movie file.

The PowerLine AV 500 Gigabit Switch Kit (DHP-541) features D-Link’s PowerLine AV 500 four-port Gigabit Switch (DHP-540) and one PowerLine AV 500 Adapter (DHP-502AV) for simple, secure, fast connectivity to hard-to-reach places in the home, such as a basement or attic. Using a home’s existing electrical wiring, consumers can easily plug, play and transform any conventional power outlet into a fully-functioning Ethernet port. Ideal for home entertainment systems, PowerLine technology allows consumers to connect to the network from any room in the house with a fast 500Mbps transfer rate. And with the ability to support multiple streams of HD content and prioritize Internet traffic with a built-in QoS engine, these PowerLine HomePlug AV products deliver glitch-free movies, gaming, web surfing, and downloading simultaneously.

For more information and detailed specs on the HD Media Router 2000 (DIR-827), the PowerLine AV 500 Gigabit Switch Kit (DHP-541) or other D-Link Amplifi products, visit amplifi.dlink.com.

Availability and Pricing

The HD Media Router 2000 will be available in late-September with a retail price of $149.99 throughout D-Link’s network of U.S. e-tail and retail outlets, including Fry’s and Micro Center, and at the company’s online store ( www.dlinkshop.com ). The PowerLine AV 500 Gigabit Switch Kit will be available for a retail price of $159.99 in October.

“As a technology solutions vendor, our customers rely on us to be knowledgeable experts, providing feedback and suggestions for implementing new technologies into their business,” said Neil Medwed, president and CEO of Preferred Technology Solutions. “The IP surveillance market is growing quickly with technology advancing at a rapid pace, and D-Link’s new Technology Specialization will help us stay ahead of the curve for our customers.”

Revamped in May 2011, D-Link’s Value in Partnership Program provides its channel partners with tools to differentiate themselves against competitors and position their market value as a D-Link partner. Three levels of partnership are available, and higher levels – Silver and Gold –offer additional partner benefits but require specific training to ensure end users are confident that their D-Link® partner is thoroughly trained on D-Link’s network infrastructure products and solutions. Through its partner program, D-Link also offers a Volume Incentive Rebate (VIR) Program, Deal Registration margin protection with a unique Bounty program if a deal is lost, a Rewards loyalty program, and Technology Specializations for Storage and IP Surveillance.

Technology Specializations

D-Link’s Value in Partnership Program Technology Specializations allow partners to differentiate themselves and demonstrate proficiency within a specific product technology. The newest specialization, IP Surveillance, offers partners the ability to be thoroughly trained and aligned with D-Link on complete surveillance solutions. Benefits include an upfront discount on IP surveillance products, priority access to surveillance sales leads, and D-Link branding as an IP Surveillance Preferred Partner for differentiation in the market.

“The new IP Surveillance Specialization is one of many enhancements D-Link will be offering partners through its Value in Partnership Program,” said Steve Ryan, director of North America Channel Programs for D-Link. “D-Link is committed to providing resources for our channel partners to ensure they are able to deliver best-of-breed solutions in IP surveillance and other technologies to meet customer needs.”

According to Georgievski, D-Link’s consumer business is tracking “relatively strong at the moment,” and she says, “while the retail market is a little tough, as evidenced by the number of special deals on offer, we are in a stronger position than most other suppliers.”

“With the whole move to digital convergence people are still buying new hardware devices like tablets, media players and smart TVs. And these devices rely on the seamless end-to-end connectivity solutions — such as wireless routers and PowerLine AV products — that D-Link provides.”

Georgievski says that while D-Link is best known for networking products, the company has also moved into the entertainment business, with products like the Boxee Box media streaming device helping to “enrich the digital experience for consumers.”

Based at D-Link’s ANZ Sydney headquarters, Georgievski reports to managing director, Domenic Torre, who said Georgievski’s appointment would ensure the company maintained a “strong level of engagement with all our key retail and distribution partners.”

SYDNEY, Aust. — August 8, 2011

D-Link Australia & New Zealand, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for business and consumers, today introduced the DFL-260E NetDefend™ Unified Threat Management (UTM) Firewall, providing small to mid-sized businesses with comprehensive defence against virus attacks, unauthorised intrusions and harmful content.

The D-Link DFL-260E is the latest addition to D-Link’s NetDefend UTM Firewall family designed to protect small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) from a wide variety of network threats. It includes the same comprehensive security features as the DFL-860E NetDefend™ UTM Firewall released earlier this year but with capacities and pricing to suit smaller businesses.

The new UTM firewall provides integrated policy-based routing, Network Address Translation, Virtual Private Network (VPN), proactive network security, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), Web Content Filtering, Anti-Virus Protection, traffic load balancing and bandwidth management in one rack-mountable chassis.

The firewall’s hardware is designed to increase performance, and a web surfing control database contains millions of URLs for Web Content Filtering. Real-time IPS, anti-virus and URL database update services protect the network from application exploits, network worms, malicious code attacks, and provide everything needed to manage employee Internet access behaviour.

The DFL-260E’s network management features include Remote Management, Bandwidth Control Policies, URL/Keyword Blocking, Access Policies and SNMP. For network monitoring, the firewall supports e-mail alerts, system log, consistency checks and real-time statistics.

Maintaining an effective defence requires that all three databases used by the UTM firewall are kept up to date. To provide a robust defence, D-Link offers optional 12-month NetDefend Firewall UTM Services subscriptions which include distinct NetDefend service updates for IPS, Anti-Virus and Web Content Filtering (free three-month trials are also available).

As president of D-Link North America, Tidd focuses on making D-Link operations more efficient, while fostering a sense of empowerment and accountability among employees. He has added new vitality to D-Link’s North American region by driving growth in small business and medium enterprise environments, increasing relationships with key service providers to offer D-Link’s networking innovation to their customers, and continuing to develop leading solutions for home customers. Tidd has also implemented strategies that drive D-Link’s channel leadership position in North America, launching its best-in-class partner program that includes compelling financial incentives unique to the industry.

“I am honored to be nominated for this esteemed award and to be included in a category with other industry leaders of such high caliber,” said Tidd. “D-Link is a trusted global brand recognized for its robust and affordable networking solutions, and it’s a pleasure working with my team to drive innovation and deliver technology solutions that enrich homes and businesses.”

The DSN-5000 is a robust storage solution that offers data managers several feature-rich capabilities including High-Availability (HA) configuration, fast transactional processing, 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity for maximum throughput performance, advanced volume virtualization technology, future-proof capacity expansion, guaranteed interoperability with the IP SAN network and major server virtualization technologies, and extended product lifecycles and warranties. In addition, the DSN-5000 provides free firmware upgrades without forcing users into expensive service contracts and allows customers to source non-proprietary, off-the-shelf disk drives, keeping storage costs down.

“The D-Link DSN-5000 is ideal for performance-demanding applications and easily complements any business’ network storage strategy,” said Chris Gruber, director of product marketing, Storage Solutions, D-Link North America. “It optimizes the transactional performance of critical applications such as server virtualization, database hosting, e-mail, audio or video post-production, and video surveillance.”

An annual achievements and recognition awards program with active participation from a broad spectrum of industry voices, the coveted annual Golden Bridge Awards program encompasses the world’s best in organizational performance, products and services, executives and management teams, innovations, case studies, product management, public relations and marketing campaigns, and customer satisfaction programs from every major industry in the world.

Winners of the 2011 Golden Bridge Awards will be honored in New York City on Aug. 10, 2011 during the annual dinner banquet.

About the Golden Bridge Awards

Golden Bridge Awards are an annual industry and peers recognition program honoring best companies of all types and sizes in North America, Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin-America, as well as best products, innovations, management and teams, women in business, and public relations and marketing campaigns from all over the world. Learn more about The Golden Bridge Awards at www.goldenbridgeawards.com.

D-Link were one of the first manufacturers to recognise the need for more energy-efficient switches. Cutting power consumption without sacrificing performance, D-Link’s ‘Green’ products use fan-less technology that saves energy and reduces failure rates, and feature ‘intelligent’ ports that ration power to where it’s most needed.

Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) switches offer unparalleled flexibility and value by delivering power via connecting Ethernet cables to devices such as Access Points, VoIP phones or IP cameras; useful for where power sockets are either unavailable or inconvenient to install.

D-Link offers a wide portfolio of Storage solutions; from easy to manage Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices, to high-performance, high-capacity Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions. Cost-effective, they provide centralised data storage accessible from multiple locations on the network or over the Internet.

D-Link’s latest generation of Wireless N products provide bandwidth and transfer speeds comparable to their wired equivalents. Robust enough to be deployed at the very core of a network, they give greatly enhanced reliability and coverage, and include advanced security features to keep organisations safe from intrusion.

D-Link’s range of NetDefend Network Security products provides an all-in-one security package; protecting against viruses, preventing intrusion and filtering content. They can stop access to blacklisted websites, monitor instant messaging and protect remote workers while cutting the time-cost of security management.

Applying their 25 years of networking expertise, D-Link has developed a wide choice of IP Cameras that cater for the needs of any business. Using advanced technology, D-Link IP cameras produce high-resolution images and work in the dimmest of light conditions. They can send instant intrusion warnings 24/7 to a PC, smart phone or any web-enabled device.

“From start-ups through to multi-site operations, D-Link’s broad range of innovative technology offers customisable and flexible solutions,” says Buzz Coates, Norbain’s Divisional Director Branded CCTV. “Whether starting from scratch, extending an existing IP network or upgrading from an analogue installation, D-Link’s networked systems can help installers achieve maximum value with the minimum of cost.”