Nortel goes for Gold modifications
Firm tweaks level of its partner programme
Nortel is tweaking the Gold level of its partner programme. The firm said it will offer Gold Solutions Partners extra marketing development funds, training credits and improved discounts on demonstration and lab gear.
"There are no changes to the underlying framework of our EMEA partner programme, but these are significant enhancements," said Adrian Marsh, head of EMEA channels at Nortel. "There will be no new hoops to jump through to stay a partner, just a chance to get some significantly better benefits."
The vendor has identified three different types of reseller in its Gold-accredited channel: Innovators, Convergence Leaders and Global Partners.
Innovators tend to be smaller firms that sell $1m-worth of Nortel products a year, often sell new technologies and want to get the right training in technologies such as storage, application integration and security.
"We're basically saying we will work closely with Innovators, and would look for two partners for each technical competence," said Marsh. "They will get the latest kit for field trials, but they must show excellence in service."
Convergence Leaders tend to be larger resellers with a large installed base, and hundreds or thousands of engineers.
Global Partners are those that have been served for more than six months by the vendor's global Customer Partner scheme.
"Over the next few months, Nortel wants to unify its partner programmes globally," said Keith Humphreys, managing consultant at EuroLAN Research.
Nortel has applied the same model in the US and EMEA so far.