Extreme Networks this week has launched a subscription plan for all its products that doesn’t require end customers to commit to a specific amount of time or impose any penalties for ending the contract.
Based on a zero-interest finance plan developed by Brocade Communications, the Extreme Capital Solutions program now applies to all the products from Extreme Networks as well those developed by Avaya and Zebra Technologies. Extreme Networks last year acquired the networking business unit of Brocade, Avaya, and Zebra Technologies and has since been moving to unify disparate channel programs.
Despite the widespread availability of financing through distributors or other third-party lending institutions, no other provider is as aggressive when it comes to financing deals, says Doug Morgan, senior sales manager for Extreme Capital at Extreme Networks.
That’s critical when competing against rival networking companies that are not as willing to make it as simple as possible for end customers or managed service providers (MSPs) to acquire networking equipment, says Morgan.
“We’re willing to assume 100 percent of the risk,” says Morgan. “A captive financing program like this allows Davids to go up against Goliaths.”
Morgan notes rival vendors may provide access to a subscription. But the end customers need to commit to multi-year terms and agree to pay substantial fees if the contract is terminated, says Morgan. The one caveat is that new financing terms cannot be applied to existing contracts. They are only available to new customers.
Even though advances in technologies such as software-defined networks (SDNs) have dramatically lowered the total cost of networking, organizations have been slow to upgrade because they lacked access to the capital required. By providing zero-percent financing, custom leasing agreements, and a true subscription option, Extreme Networks is removing financing as a barrier to upgrading, says Morgan.
Those financing options are just not limited to products and services from Extreme Networks. Morgan says the company is willing to finance complementary third-party products and services so long as the overall solution includes products and services from Extreme Networks.
Financing usually doesn’t get the credit it deserves when it comes to driving deals through the channel. But when all things are relatively equal, financing can be the difference when it comes getting a deal done or not.
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