SonicWall and McAfee are the latest vendors to offer incentives to partners and customers to either upgrade their old appliances or replace competitive products.

The SonicWall Customer Advantage Program targets users of Juniper Networks, Cisco Systems, Citrix Systems, Barracuda Networks, WatchGuard, Check Point, Fortinet and Symantec with discounts on SonicWall firewalls, unified threat management (UTM) and data protection appliances and solutions.

"The new Customer Advantage Program is a testament to this as we pass on savings to the user in return for a longer-term commitment from them, as well as adding new security solutions to the existing program, thereby giving our partners the tools they need to protect their customers," said Marvin Blough, vice president of worldwide sales at SonicWall.

The SonicWall initiative is a twofold program: displace competitors and incent existing customers to convert their aging equipment to newer SonicWall appliances. Companies that commit to the minimum subscription service are eligible to receive a 50 percent discount on the total cost of the solution. SonicWall, which sponsors this blog, offers subscriptions in two- and three-year packages.

McAfee yesterday announced its “Cash for Clunkers” program at its Focus event in Las Vegas, through which it’s providing partners with special discounts for converting customers currently using intrusion prevention products by IBM (ISS), Tipping Point, Cisco Systems and SourceFire. McAfee will reward partners’ sales engineers directly with cash bounties of up to $750 for leading engagements that knock out its hardware rivals.

“We are confident that the McAfee Network Security (formerly IntruShield) portfolio will exceed your customers’ expectations and outperform the infrastructure they have in place today,” McAfee wrote on its promotional Website.

Throughout the recession, many technology vendors implemented competitive displacement programs to lure customers away from rivals. The idea, obviously, is to make the price and migration so affordable that it’s difficult to turn down the competitive offer even when the existing vendor is deeply entrenched. And, of course, the incentives made it easier for partners to close deals with budget-strapped customers.

Unlike earlier displacement efforts initiated by vendors during the recession, the SonicWall and McAfee efforts come as the economy is showing signs of recovery. Many security vendors believe end users will soon stop sitting on money and begin upgrading and enhancing their aging security systems. Putting an incentive program in the field now, they believe, will help their partners open new doors and close more deals. In a sense, these programs are designed to help grow revenue and grab market share.

Given the highly competitive nature of the security market, vendors such as Juniper, Fortinet and Symantec will likely launch similar incentive programs to counter the SonicWall and McAfee efforts.