VMware launches Enterprise Purchasing Programme

Vendor announces new initiative at VMworld to encourage partners' growing competency in selling emerging products

VMware has announced further initiatives for its resellers aimed at making it easier for them to sell enterprise products.

The vendor, which announced new sales incentives for SMB partners earlier this week, said the new Enterprise Purchasing Programme (EPP) is a middle ground between its Enterprise Licence Agreements (ELA) and Volume Purchasing Programme (VPP).

It claims that the initiative will give partners greater flexibility in selling its enterprise offerings.

EPP is designed for deals between $200,000 (£125,000) and $600,000 over a three-year period, and answers the channel's growing competency in selling emerging products, according to Ed Dolman, VMware's head of channel.

Speaking to ChannelWeb at VMworld, he said: "What we have seen now is that as partners become more competent on emerging products, their capability to grow large deals is coming to the fore.

"[The EPP] is simple to price up as it is SKU-based and all transacted through the channel. They can invest ahead of time against their needs of today, and their view of tomorrow, and it has been a really popular [announcement] with partners so far."

Within the three-year time frame, partners have the ability to mix and match products, meaning they can alter their strategy as time goes on, according to VMware.

Ryan Knauss, vice president for pricing and licensing at VMware, said: "With VMware EPP, we are making it easier, faster and more advantageous for customers seeking to purchase VMware products and services. [It] offers customers cost savings, flexibility and ease of management."