Veritas Technologies is doubling down on its partner investment with the launch of its revamped partner program today.
The new Veritas Partner Force program is designed to create higher earning potential for global partners who want to capitalize on Veritas’ 360 data management portfolio and multi-cloud data management solutions, the company says.
Barbara Spicek began working at Veritas in September 2017 as VP Global Channels & Alliances, bringing with her 20-plus years of experience within the channel and tasked with building out the company’s channel strategy, she explains to ChannelE2E. Indeed, She came on board the company just as it was in the midst of a growth spurt. “We are a company that’s been well known in the data protection for a long, long time,” she says, “but more importantly, over the last two years we’ve made tremendous changes as it comes to our product line and our strategy.”
Those changes, though, led the company to overhaul its partner program. This has meant additional investment in the program, but Veritas’ goal was also to make the program more attractive to existing partners while attracting new partners, Spicek explains.
Familiar Partner Program Terms: Profitability, Simplicity and Predictability
Spicek breaks the overhaul down into three words: Profitability, simplicity, and predictability -- which for a core rally cry for a growing number of partner programs.
1. Profitability: Top performing partners now have access to special rebates by overachieving set quarterly growth targets. They can also benefit from increased deal registration rewards and pre-sales technical assistance via online chat or email, as well as access to the Veritas Partner Development Fund, that provides additional opportunities for growth.
Those rates are extended even further when it comes to new technology adoption, Spicek explains. “Anything above and beyond data protection, the companies can now make higher profits by upselling and cross-selling and taking the customers into full solutions,” she says.
This is attractive for existing partners, but Spicek says this should also serve as an incentive for new companies thinking about joining the program.
2. Simplicity: “From a simplicity perspective, we’ve removed a lot of complexity in the program on two fronts,” Spicek explains. Firstly, the wording is more clear and easy to understand according to Spicek.
More importantly, according to Spicek, is that the company has completely overhauled its certification and accreditation requirements within the program. These services have all been moved to an e-learning environment to make it more accessible. “We now have very easy to understand online training courses that they can pick and choose based on what technology they want to represent, what their business practice is,” she says. These certification courses also come at no cost to partners.
The overall program simplification allows partners to more easily achieve tier advancement and deeper associated benefits much faster, by meeting a combination of accreditation and revenue requirements, the company asserts.
3. Predictability: Complex channel programs can be difficult for partners to understand, making it difficult to predict earnings. Spicek says the new program makes it easier to understand the rebate structures and predict their earnings. The new dealer registration program also makes it easier for partners to understand what their margins will be, Spicek asserts.
Building The New Program
Since Spicek joined the company in September, she has been running partner advisory councils around the globe trying to determine what partners and clients were all looking for.
“This program, and the changes to the program, are a direct result of our partners feedback about what they wanted to see,” she says. The messaging has already been positive, according to Spicek, with Veritas gold and platinum partners especially happy about their increased rates.
Of course, a pivotal part of this program is attracting new customers. Spicek explains that Veritas is courting MSPs, service providers, CSPs, and others into the program. “We want to make sure we offer our partners stability to train and certify on the cloud product lines but also give them the ability to create hybrid cloud solutions and offerings for their customers,” she says.
The ease of certification and accreditation is part of Veritas’ plan to make it easier for these new partners to sign up. “We’re making it easier for new partners to come in, get access to program benefits, to the learnings they need, and easily onboard partners into the program,” says Spicek.
Expanding Globally
Veritas will also expand its global distribution program as it aims to drive scale around the world. These efforts will also bring it into the commercial and midmarket arenas, according to Spicek. Partners selling to these accounts will have opportunities to receive increased compensation and technical assets, along with new e-learning and technical podcasts focused on this market.
“It’s one global distribution platform that has certain benefits for the distributors around marketing development funds, backend funding to drive initiatives and programs,” says Spicek. “It’s a brand new, refreshed, restructured distribution program that we are offering to our distributors worldwide.”
As Spicek points out, this refurbished program is a global effort, but she says it also demonstrates Veritas’ commitment to the channel. “This is a complete overhaul and reinvestment and I think it’s going to be very well received,” she says.
