EMC pushes for specialisation

Top VARs must now specialise to retain Premier or Signature status

Nicholas Leblanc: EMC is putting more incentives on the table than ever for partners

EMC partners are being asked to specialise as part of a partner programme overhaul that begins on 1 January.

The storage giant last week announced several changes to its EMC Velocity programme that will be introduced next year.

The top-level Premier and Signature tiers will now be directly linked to new Velocity Specialities. Four will be introduced in January around Consolidate, Advanced Consolidate, Backup and Recovery, and Governance and Archive, with more planned, including an RSA-led Security Specialty.

Partners must achieve one speciality to earn Premier status, while Signature and Signature Solution Centre partners must have multiple specialities.

EMC also revealed it is introducing a new Affiliate entry-point tier designed to offer volume partners easy access to Velocity.

Nicolas Leblanc, EMC’s EMEA channels and mid-market director, said: “For the partners who choose to specialise to further differentiate themselves and ultimately become a trusted adviser to the private cloud, we are putting more incentives than ever on the table to reward them for their hard work, investments, success and loyalty to EMC.”

Aad Dekkers, chief marketing officer at Signature Solution Centre partner MTI, welcomed EMC’s push for greater specialisation.

“We have focused on backup, consolidation and archive for the past couple of years and we agree that by focusing you can add more value,” he said.