Citrix doles out cash plaudits
Firm offers incentives to partners under revamped Advisor Reward scheme
Citrix is offering its channel partners cash injections, following a redesign of its Advisor Reward scheme.
Under the scheme, VARs that were formerly measured in terms of revenue on sales will now be measured by lead creation and the number of long-term relationships they develop with customers. The scheme has already paid out $10m since last year.
Kevin Bland, channel sales manager for the UK and Ireland at Citrix, said resellers will receive the bonus by cheque and claimed it will be about 10 per cent of the total deal price.
"We are rewarding our resellers for good behaviour. We wanted them to behave in a highly competitive market and it has been successful for them," Bland said. "Resellers need to be motivated to create opportunity. This will result in longer, better, more fulfilling customer relationships."
Tony Kingston, marketing manager at Citrix partner Deverill, said the scheme looks positive. "It's a good idea and gives us recognition for the effort we put into maintaining our focus. It won't increase competition but will put more emphasis on relationships, and customers will stick with certain resellers longer."
At Citrix's recent annual partner and sales conference in Florida, where the redesigned reward scheme was unveiled, Mark Templeton, chief executive of Citrix, said the rapid growth in Citrix's product portfolio, which has doubled in a year, will help partners to grow.
"We want to be the best business for our partners," he said. He claimed that the growth in the access infrastructure market of 12 per cent globally year-on-year, and the six per cent rise in application software, would benefit partners.
Kingston added that Templeton's growth figure was too ambitious. "I don't think the UK [access infrastructure] market is growing by 12 per cent; it's more like six per cent, bringing it in line with IDC and Gartner forecasts."