SolarWinds reveals significant updates to reseller partner programme
The updates will take effect in August and are designed to provide partners with greater predictability, stronger incentives, and enhanced support
SolarWinds today unveils additional enhancements to its Reseller Partner Programme to focus more on benefits, increased enablement, and an improved partner experience.
For reseller partners, the changes aim to offer a clearer, more consistent framework for how SolarWinds rewards investment and growth.
The new updates span four categories:
Benefits: Based on explicit criteria, partners will have access to improved tier-based benefits. These include an updated and simplified incentive programme with a new long-term rewards centre designed to drive continued investment.
Enablement: SolarWinds continues to evolve its online certifications and will provide additional monthly webinars and newsletters. Partners will also have access to new specialisations, empowering them in specific disciplines to solve evolving and complex customer issues.
Partner Experience: The Partner Portal experience was a specific point of emphasis in feedback from partners. As a result, partners will now have access to brand-new portal resources and functionality, including an enhanced NFR process and integration with Salesforce for seamless opportunity sharing.
Discounting: SolarWinds is moving from recommended reseller discounts to published, tier-based discounts. This provides a more consistent framework that helps sales and channel teams align more predictably on programme execution.
“This latest iteration of our partner programme is further proof of our commitment to improve business outcomes for customers,” said Barb Huelskamp, VP of global channel sales and alliances.
“We continue to listen to partners and make specific changes that are aligned with their concerns. We understand that the more we empower our partners, the better equipped they are to solve the evolving and complex issues customers must navigate.”
Partner programmes in 2026
SolarWinds’ updates come amid a wider wave of programme resets, incentive overhauls and ecosystem shifts happening this year.
Cisco officially launched its Cisco 360 Partner Program on 26 January 2026, marking the end of a multi‑year rebuild of its 25‑year‑old channel programme.
The new program was designed to help the company and its channel partners capture more business in the AI era, said Cisco chair and CEO Chuck Robbins.
However, by February the vendor had already revised partner contract terms in response to soaring memory prices, changing the compute order cancellations policy so that Cisco has the right to cancel compute orders up to 45 days before shipment.
But one week later the company cancelled compute promotions and discount incentives including deal registration effective immediately in the wake of rising memory prices.
In April Cisco made a U-Turn in the wake of vociferous criticism from partners, and reinstated its compute deal registration, effective April 15.
Moreover, CRN’s recent EMEA Channel Leaders 2026 research shows that vendors are under intense pressure to simplify and modernise their partner programmes this year, with partners increasingly frustrated by opaque incentives, inconsistent tiering and outdated portals.