VMware’s new and long-awaited partner program launched today, ushering in a series of important changes the company says will provide the channel with better business opportunities and sharpen services competencies.
The VMware Partner Connect program, first announced last April, is a total rebuild of its predecessor, according to Jenni Flinders, vice-president and worldwide channel chief. It takes into account the different business models and other complexities that come with an extensive partner base.
“Depending on your business model, the program that we previously had didn’t really make it easy for partners to engage with VMware,” said Flinders. “Partners want to be able to choose how they become successful.”
Under VMware Partner Connect, partner levels are determined through Tier Credits based on, among other things, market size and the solution’s maturity, favouring cloud licensing and emerging technologies.
Of the three reward tiers, Partner, Advanced Partner, and Principal Partner, only Principal Partners will be badged. Principal partners get to tap into unique co-selling opportunities and education resources.
Brian McNeil, regional vice-president for Technologent, a managed services provider in California, said Connect has made it significantly easier for them to work with VMware.
“In the past, we were under a variety of different programs with VMware. We were a Managed Service Provider. We were a Professional Services partner. We were a Reselling Partner. And we had different agreements for all of those different programs,” he said in a press release. “Now under Partner Connect, we’re excited that they all flow into one single program with a single dashboard that can tell us how we’re doing across everything.”