AAPT has appointed three new state-based business development managers to drive awareness of its SMB subsidiary, IProvide. The move coincides with the introduction of several enhanced services for partners.

IProvide managing director, Phil Sykes, said it had hired industry veteran and former Powertel employee, Martin Chappell, as its new Brisbane partner development manager. He follows the appointment of former Pacific Internet staffer, Anthony Barnard, in Sydney, and Adam Lacey from Optus Business in Melbourne last month.

The telco has also launched a new Web-based partner portal giving its channel access to online ordering, commission details and product information. More importantly, however, the new site would list a customer's communication configuration details, making it easier to look up information about technical equipment and support, Sykes said.

"It's about being a professional services organisation," he said.

The IProvide program was launched by AAPT in April. The venture is centred on providing systems integrators and service providers with a suite of packaged VoIP, VPN and communications services to on-sell to the SMB market.

Sykes said its goal was to see SMBs embrace a completely IP-based office. In the short term, the organisation was focused on delivering products, tools and services that could utilise existing infrastructure to provide a greater level of connectivity and convergence, he said. These included hosting voice over IP application over a broadband pipeline or providing remote office access, he said.

In return, the tools and support on offer from AAPT also presented systems integrators and service providers an opportunity to expand their range of services to existing customers, Sykes said.

The telco now has five partners on board. Sykes would not disclose names, but insisted it was working with several key system providers, as well as smaller SIs. The telco was also in discussions with various channel players across the country.

"We have the capability to work with a large number of partners," he said. "We could realistically support 150 active partners."