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They say in sales a good product sells itself. Perhaps, but salespeople – and solution providers – still need a good reason to sell a vendor’s brand and products. And that’s what the surging in Overland Storage’s partner ranks proves: A combination of good products and good channel programs will draw in partners and lead to growth.

Overland Storage, a specialist in appliances for primary and secondary storage, reports a more than 419 percent spike in the number of worldwide registered partners in its program. In 2011, the number of partners grew from 290 to more than 1,500.

Of course, Overland and many of its partners attribute the channel growth to the quality and marketability of products. However, a greater degree of the surge is protected margins, generous market development funds and quality field sales support for joint selling. Partners say the known and guaranteed profitability is a strong incentive for partnering with Overland.

“We recognize that VARs are looking to technology vendors for great products from partners they can trust,” said Jillian Mansolf, Overland’s vice president of global sales and marketing. “The growth of our partners in 2011 and the results of our recent channel survey demonstrate that we are delivering exactly what our partners need to maximize their sales opportunities and profits.”

Many vendors offer margin protection through deal registration and incumbency protection. Brocade, for instance, is beefing up its deal registration and sale incentives to lure resellers away from Cisco and Juniper. Hewlett-Packard is offering partners incentives if they sell networking gear attached to server deals. So what Overland is doing isn’t unique; it’s a well-worn and proven method for attracting and retaining productive and loyal partners.

What is interesting, though, is how the opening premise of this article isn’t enough anymore. The days when brand leadership or technology supremacy was enough to carry sales and partnership relationships are fading fast. End users want technologies that produce a business benefit. Solution providers, as well, want vendor partnerships that carry a net benefit and predictable outcomes. It’s not just about the brand, technology or channel program, but rather a combination of all these factors.

Overland’s surging partner ranks are evidence of this.