'We're asking partners to approach sales and service in a new way': Akamai's Pablo Onnias talks channel programme revamp

From regional partner tiers, new learning journeys and the “X Factor”, Akamai’s global director of channel partner programmes and GTM gives us the lowdown

Akamai, the security, compute and delivery company known for running one of the world’s largest distributed edge platforms, has spent the past two years re-engineering its global partner programme.

The US-headquartered vendor plays in web and application security, zero-trust, DDoS protection and performance optimisation, counting some of the world’s biggest enterprises and public sector organisations as customers.

According to Pablo Onnias, global senior director of channel partner programmes & GTMs, the overhaul was long in the making.

The result is a simpler, more flexible and fairer model designed to give boutique specialists and global giants alike a fair shot.

“We follow three key tenets to revamp the partner programme,” Onnias tells CRN.

“The first was around simplicity. Partners told us over the last two to three years that some areas of the programme were too complex to understand.

“So we took an approach of extreme simplicity in the new version.”

Focus and flexibility complete the revamped framework, according to Onnias.

“We didn’t want to boil the ocean, so we made sure it was clear where we as a vendor wanted to focus with partners and the specific products and markets where we could build long-term strategic alliances,” he says.

Akamai is very aware that most partner firms no longer fall along neatly designated lines such as reseller, GSI or managed service provider.

“Partners today are morphing quickly. A referral partner might want to resell, or a reseller might just want to deliver services.

“We had to adapt the programme to accommodate different partner types and roles, depending on the opportunity.”

This adaptability extends to tiering.

Akamai has scrapped global tiers in favour of regional ones, with two metrics in play: revenue and productivity.

“One of the biggest pieces of feedback we heard was that boutique or smaller partners were struggling to compete against the larger ones,” Onnias explains.

“We wanted to create a level playing field so both small and large partners could grow and compete fairly.”

For Onnias, productivity is a crucial measure that goes beyond raw revenue.

“Larger partners usually carry more revenue, but boutique partners are often strong hunters, bringing in new customers or upselling existing ones.

“We built a pathway for both types of partners to rise in the tiers.”

Enablement is another area Akamai has doubled down on.

The certification programme, which has been running for four years, is being refreshed to include cleaner learning journeys, more hands-on labs, and a new shadowing process.

“We’re merging modules to simplify the journey, and doubling down on hands-on labs, virtual live trainings, and shadowing processes so partners can bridge what they’ve learned with real-world projects,” says Onnias.

One of the most eye-catching additions is what Onnias dubs the “X Factor”: Ask an Expert. “

“It gives partners access to optimised technical knowledge at any point during the POC or integration process, so they can get unstuck and approach use cases differently,” he says.

Support for partners is also expanding.

“When a partner joins Akamai, their first touchpoint is with a partner account executive who helps them onboard and strategise on markets and products,” Onnias says.

“They also work with partner solution engineers to make sure they’re ready from pitch to close, and we’re investing further in support through programs like Ask an Expert.”

Behind the overhaul lies two years of research and consultation.

“We interviewed partners on what worked in the old program and what they wanted in a new one,” Onnias notes.

“The design we put in place is truly a collaboration, and feedback so far has been extremely positive, especially on simplicity.”

On the marketing side, Akamai has made early changes that partners are already feeling. “The big change already underway is the My Partner Portal, which now makes it much easier to find marketing assets,” Onnias says.

“Alongside that, we’re strengthening campaign building tools, keeping our MDF programme solid, and doubling down on co-marketing, from co-authoring blogs to podcasts and social amplification.”

With the programme now opening up for partners in September and a formal migration set for January, Onnias is confident the revamp will make Akamai easier, and more rewarding, to do business with.