CEO Selina Lo visited New Zealand from the US for the event and says the company, which has been in New Zealand for four years, has "very good momentum" in the country and has now been targeting enterprises. The company says it places a strong focus on the education segment and that due to the high capacity of its antennas, it is also strong in the warehouse and logistics market.
General manager of Connector Systems Mark Dasent, who distributes Ruckus in New Zealand, says the company is now looking for resellers in different segments, such as hospitality and health, among others.According to Dasent, Ruckus technology is currently used in over 400 schools in New Zealand, as well as some tertiary institutions and private colleges. The company has recently worked with Orewa College in a "rip and replace type of upgrade" and is also working with Takapuna College.
"Business is spectacular in New Zealand," says Carl Jefferys, Ruckus' Sydney-based country manager for the ANZ region, who also visited this side of the Tasman for the partner event.
According to Jefferys, Ruckus is also doing a lot of work with Weta Digital and placing a strong focus in the digital media industry. "We also have 30 or so hospitality users," says Jefferys. "We can implement our solution in an hour or two which contrasts with our competitors and increases reseller margins," he adds.
"We have just under 200 partners in New Zealand at the moment, which is a big number," says Dasent. "We are committed to help partners grow."
Ruckus' partner programme, the Top Dog programme, includes a range of incentives including discounts, training and certifications. Ruckus partners can become certified as wifi systems engineers in three days. "The cost of sales is reduced enormously," says Dasent.
"With a demo, nine times out of ten there is a sale. We have marketing funds available and we are also putting a big focus on events. We're starting to attend events in other verticals too, not just the education market," adds Dasent.
Jefferys says that one of the strengths of Ruckus is the ability that resellers have to bundle up its wifi solutions with other solutions such as security or digital signage, for example. "They can take this on and be very competitive," he says.
Ruckus is growing its ANZ team to a total of six people and has just appointed its first New Zealand-based regional sales manager, Renilda Saguil, who is based in Auckland.