EMC alters Velocity to drive reseller business
Storage vendor's new-look channel strategy sees shift to three-tiers and updated accreditation scheme
Storage giant EMC has slashed its partner tiers from five to three and has given its channel four months to get reaccredited under its new EMEA partner programme.
EMC unveiled its Velocity2 programme at its partner summit in Tenerife last week, which is due to go live on 1 July.
Willem Hendrickx, EMEA vice-president, channel and mid-market at EMC, speaking exclusively to CRN, said: “We decided to make some enhancements partly because of partner recommendations, but also because both EMC and the market have changed since the Velocity programme was formed a couple of years ago.”
As a result, the entry level is now Affiliate Partner and is aimed at EMC hardware resellers. Premier Solution Partners are those that sell both hardware and software, while Signature Partners are those that sell hardware, software and have expertise in Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Cisco or other applications.
Signature Partners and distributors will be expected to open a Solution Centre – a demo suite with training and testing capabilities.
“It will be an easy transition – we have really simplified the accreditation process,” Hendrickx claimed, adding that he is also looking to increase partner numbers. “We want 1,000 Affiliate Partners, between 100 and 200 Premier Partners and 20 to 40 Signature Partners in total across EMEA.”
EMC is confident that all 460 of its existing partners will sign up to the new programme.
Hendrickx said channel partners from EMC’s recent acquisitions including RSA, VMware and Documentum will not be affected by the changes.
John Lewis, EMC vendor manager at Computacenter, said: “The simplification of channel processes is always key for tier-one partners. The additional resources EMC has added to the high-end of the programme will help to open up and drive additional revenue opportunities.”
Hamish MacArthur, chief executive at analyst MacArthur Stroud, told CRN: “The challenge for EMC is to get its partners more committed to selling solutions and show them where the value-added opportunities exist.”