Citrix removes certification obstacles

Lower-level partners can now sell Citrix solutions without forking out on product training

Vendor Citrix has tweaked its Solution Advisor programme (CSA) to enable all tiers to sell its portfolio without investing in product accreditation upfront.

Citrix is allowing resellers to join its programme as CSA Authorised partners without any product certification, before encouraging them to move up to Certified partner status to receive full partner benefits.

The move applies to Citrix’s entire portfolio with the exception of its flagship product, XenApp.

Siaron van Wetten, director of channel marketing at Citrix, said: “Investing upfront to become accredited was slowing partners down. We have streamlined the programme to make it easier.”

Triggered by feedback from the vendor’s 3,500 EMEA channel partners, the changes will apply to Citrix’s global programme.

“The changes make the programme more flexible for partners that can now sell the product and realise the benefits before choosing to become certified,” added van Wetten.

She said Citrix has also eradicated exception requests. “Previously, if a partner wanted to sell NetScaler, for example, but was not certified, they had to file for an exception form, which was very time consuming.”

Zak Verdi, sales director of large account reseller SoftwareONE, a Citrix Silver partner, said: “If partners have previously invested in certification, they are not restricted by the fact that Authorised partners can now sell without accreditation.

It differentiates the Certified partners who make the extra investment, and allows all resellers to sell more Citrix.”