Motorola: PartnerEmpower worth waiting for
Vendor claims the launch of its delayed unified partner programme will allow partners to differentiate themselves
Motorola Solutions has nearly completed the roll out of a new global partner programme designed to drive greater specialisation among its partners.
PartnerEmpower was first mooted over two years ago, with the roll out set to occur throughout last year. However, the first tracks of the programme were only launched on 2 April due to delays over the associated back-end systems.
The vendor draws the majority of its channel revenues from its Mobile Solutions business, which covers mobile computing, scanning and RFID. Partners can now qualify as Authorised, Specialist or Elite in each of these three technology tracks, depending on their revenues and level of technical manpower.
Top-level Elite partners must do $2.5m of business with the vendor annually, for instance.
Richard Hudson, MSSI vice president EMEA Channel & Solutions, said the majority of Mobile Solutions' 3,000 EMEA partners have now migrated across to PartnerEmpower. Top partners include IBM, BT and more specialist outfits such as Ryzex, The Barcode Warehouse and M-Netics.
"We wanted to ensure it was operationally ready," Hudson explained. "The front-end and marketing is one thing but we had to ensure the correct ERP and partner relationship management systems were in place."
Motorola Solutions also has a wireless arm, which is split into four tracks for partners. The third part of its business - radio - will not become part of the new partner programme until early next year.
A separate programme for application partners was also launched on 2 April and Hudson indicated that specialisation and differentiation are the key watchwords of the new set up. Some 500 application partners have already signed up in EMEA.
"Not everyone wants to sell product," he said. "Some want to influence the sale, some may just offer software. We have recognised these differences and have built a programme to interact with these partners in a consistent manner."
Early next year, partners will also be awarded a metal-based accreditation that reflects their overall business with the vendor. Top-level Gold partners will need to have perhaps three or five Elite specialisations in total, Hudson indicated.
Hudson claimed that resellers could trust the firm, which works through distributors ScanSource, Ingram Micro, Avnet and Brightpoint in the UK.
"We are a channel focused business," he said. "Over 90 per cent of our Mobile Solutions business goes through the channel in EMEA and we are number one in many of the markets in which we operate."