Visual Networks Inc. aims to cultivate VAR partners to market its broadening network and application performance management product set.

The company on Monday launched its ProVisual Partner Program. The program will create a two-tier distribution channel for the company’s flagship Visual UpTime Select and other offerings. Visual Networks has distribution arrangements in place with Interlink Communication Systems and Sprint North Supply. For participating resellers, the program will include market development funds, opportunity registration, pricing tools, sales collateral and an online demonstration system.

The VAR program follows the expansion of Visual Networks’ product line. The company’s traditional niche has been in monitoring the performance of private data networks. But since 2004, the company has widened its scope of products.

“We’ve moved up the stack into application performance management,” noted David Peikin, director of marketing at Visual Networks.

The company in 2004 released application discovery, monitoring and reporting modules for Visual UpTime Select. Other modules are intended to help organizations manage voice-over IP and Citrix deployments. Visual Networks also offers Visual IP InSight, an IP service management system.

In light of this change in focus, the company now seeks “a broader role with the VAR channel,” Peikin said.

“We’re able to address a much larger market now,” said Owen Brennan, vice president of channel sales at Visual Networks. He said the company has no specific VAR recruitment target, but noted that a couple dozen resellers wouldn’t be an unreasonable roster.

EDS Pushes .Net Services

Electronic Data Systems Corp. has opened nine technology centers to focus on Microsoft .Net development.

Three centers are in the United States (Saginaw, Mich.; Kokomo, Ind.; and Redmond, Wash.). The others are in Canada, the United Kingdom, Egypt, New Zealand, India and Brazil. The centers will provide .Net development services to customers, using such products as Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006.

EDS’ Microsoft initiative follows Unisys Corp.’s bid to build a Microsoft consulting practice. In November, the company announced plans to devote 2,500 consultants to a group focused on business intelligence, analytical processing, enterprise application migration and other SQL Server-based solutions.

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