Apere Launches Comprehensive Channel Program Initiative


SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 18-- Reinforcing its commitment to the channel, Apere, Inc. today launched the Apere Team Partner Program, a comprehensive program designed to support and leverage a diverse array of potential partnership opportunities, while accommodating the key objectives and requirements of the company's growing channel base. The new program delivers significant benefits for value added resellers (VARs), system integrators (SIs), and solution providers, and provides maximum opportunity for success by enabling Partners to increase sales while building a competitive advantage in the market by specifying and selling Apere security solutions, including the recently announced Apere Identity Managed Access Gateway (IMAG). The company has also announced a strategic partnership with Ness Technologies, Inc., a global provider of IT services and solutions. Under the agreement, Ness will leverage Apere's IMAG to help its growing healthcare and financial services customer base meet intellectual property protection and regulatory requirements. (See release entitled Ness Technologies and Apere Announce Strategic Partnership to Facilitate Intellectual Property Protection and Regulatory Compliance also dated September 18, 2006.)

"Secure DNA recognized from inception that the key to the company's success was building strong partnerships with vendors who could add value to our company, and Apere proved to be a perfect fit," stated Anthony K Giandomenico, President and CTO for Secure DNA, the preeminent information security provider worldwide and the second fastest growing company in Hawaii today. "Apere not only helps our organization enable secure business for customers with their unique IMAG solution, they are one of the easiest vendors to work with, offer reliable technology, and have developed one the best training, education and overall partner programs in the industry today. We look forward to continuing a mutually beneficial relationship with Apere well into the future."

The Apere Team Partner Program is ideal for companies that have experience in selling security products and consulting services and are actively seeking to expand and compliment their security offerings with a turnkey appliance that integrates essential identity management and access control functionality, as well as application and network user provisioning in a single solution. Through the Apere Team Partner Program, Partners will have access to the tools, information and resources they need to successfully use, sell, deploy, and support Apere information security solutions. Apere offers two participation levels in the program -- Free Agent and Most Valuable Partners:

* Free Agent Partners are companies and consultants that focus on offering services rather than software and hardware sales. This category also includes technical organizations that do not offer network security solutions, but have customers and prospects that express the need for security technology.

* Most Valuable Partners have embraced Apere solutions as one of their primary security products and possess a proven track record and ability to achieve a greater volume of sales. MVPs are also fulfillment partners for Apere Free Agent Partners.

21st Century VARs
Apere will also recognize 20 Team Partners demonstrating the greatest potential to execute with the addition of marketing development funds, no-cost Proof of Concept equipment and access to exclusive demand generation events implemented by the company.

Key benefits of the Apere Team Partner Program include deal registration for margin protection, account management support, finder's fees, sales and technical training, lead distribution and marketing development funds, as well as listing on Apere's Partner website and access to Apere's special events.

Innovative Proof-of-Concept Playbook
Apere realizes that critical network security solutions, such as the IMAG, may need to demonstrate technological reliability and superiority prior to purchase. To help facilitate and expedite the evaluation process through their partner channel, Apere has developed the innovative Proof-of-Concept (POC) Playbook. The POC Playbook far exceeds the standard approach of locating and borrowing available evaluation equipment when a customer needs further validation of IMAG's unique business value.

The Apere POC Playbook consists of:

* Customizable test plans with pass/fail criteria

* Evaluation equipment purchase below manufacturer's cost and net 90 terms

* Large evaluation equipment pool

* Online Proof-of-Concept lab

Apere Founding VARs
Since its inception, Apere has embraced the channel as a key element in its go to market strategy and enrolled the support of several security VARs to help develop the company's solutions and partnership program. These Founding Partners are considered security experts in their respective regions with Certified Information Systems Security Professionals (CISSP) and Certified Information Systems Auditors (CISA), and represent the high level of strategic partners Apere will be targeting nationwide with the launch of the Team Partner Program this week.

"We fully recognize that the success of our channel partners has a direct impact on the future success of Apere," stated Jared Hufferd, vice president of business development for Apere. "To ensure that the Apere Team Partner Program delivered the right balance of tools and resources needed for our partners to be successful, we worked very closely with our founding partners, including Corsa Network Technologies, Inc., Enterprise System Solutions, Inc., and Secure DNA. These professional organizations were instrumental in helping Apere to determine the key components required in a compelling and mutually rewarding channel program."

About IMAG
IMAG, the first Identity Managed Access Gateway to seamlessly integrate Identity Management (IdM) and Information Access technologies in a single security appliance, helps IT management improve productivity by reducing the cost and complexity of an identity management deployment, while enhancing network security to meet dynamic regulatory and compliance requirements. As a result of innovative connector technology, auto discovery capabilities and patent pending access control mechanism, Apere's IMAG eliminates the traditional policy management IT burden with unique enterprise wide cleansing of identity access information as well as centralized provisioning of information and network access that protects sensitive corporate data and proprietary intellectual property at an affordable cost for the mid-tier enterprise.

About Apere, Inc.
Headquartered in San Jose, CA, Apere was founded in 2004 by successful serial entrepreneurs who leveraged their experience and expertise in the security, IC design and software markets to create the industry's first Identity Managed Access Gateway designed to address the security of sensitive data while significantly reducing the management burden placed on IT staff. The IMAG product line is available exclusively through Apere's Team Partners who are certified security experts with the knowledge and resources needed to solve enterprise security issues with the IMAG security appliance platform. For more information, visit the company website at www.apere.com, contact Apere via phone at 877-875-9476 or via email at contact@apere.com.

CONTACT:
Robin Lutchanksy,
+1-408-369-8280,
or robin@lcomm.com,
or Denise Idone,
+1-631-472-0342,
or denise@lcomm.com,
both of Lutchansky Communications, for Apere, Inc.

Web site: http://apere.com/

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