Following up on its launch last summer, information infrastructure technology and solutions vendor EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) has renewed and refreshed its Velocity Incentive Program, rolling it into its Velocity Partner Program and enriching the margin and earning potential it makes available to EMC partners.
The incentive program, which was on a trial basis until the end of 2009, has been renewed and folded into the wider partner program, with an incentive structure based on partner revenue and investment in training. The most high-profile addition to the program is the creation of a technical architect certification said Michael Kerr, director of channels and business development for EMC Canada.
“It requires considerable investment by both sides to bring individuals up to the same level as our own pre-sales technical support people,” said Kerr. “In exchange, we provide greater margin opportunity for partners that make those investments. We feel if you can represent our product set and be certified to the level where your dependence on EMC infrastructure is minimal, we should maximize your revenue.”
Having a technical architect on staff will yield a number of bonuses for partners. In addition to their entitlement based on their partner program tier, such partners will receive an additional one per cent on co-op earnings and revenue rebates, and an additional 10 points on registered transactions.
In renewing the program, Kerr said EMC also wanted to recognize that the vendor has a very broad product portfolio, and it’s not fair to ask partners to play in every segment of it to realize maximum margin and earning potential. EMC wants partners to look at the subsets they go to market in, such as security or backup, and specialize in the corresponding EMC product sets. The vendor will then help them go to market profitably.
“We never asked them to invest in it all before but we give them more of a clear choice now, and the reaction from partners has been very positive,” said Kerr. “They understand where they can play, and the more portfolio they have the more they can differentiate in the market.”
While partners can reach the highest tiers while specializing, Kerr said the product sets have been made stackable. That means partners that bring solutions to market across multiple EMC product categories can earn additional incentives and financial benefits.
The technology areas of focus for the program have also been solidified, and include consolidation, backup and recovery, archiving, security, management and virtualization.