EMC partners call for mid-market channel rewards

Storage giant claims it is listening to feedback and hints at new scheme for smaller partners

EMC has insisted it is listening to its channel partners after some have called for it to better recognise the contribution made by smaller, mid-market-focused channel players.

The vendor has recently launched a push into the mid-market space, claiming in the UK alone, the market represents a $1bn (£661m) opportunity. It claims that 99 per cent of its mid-market business goes through the channel.

But the vendor hinted that in order to realise its mid-market ambitions, it might need to tweak its partner programme – which at the moment rewards partners with sky-high EMC sales.

When the storage giant's new Business Partner Programme (BPP) was put in place at the start of the year, massive new revenue thresholds for each tier were introduced. To achieve Silver, Gold and Platinum status, partners must transact $1.25m, $15m and $65m a year, respectively.

The move upset some of EMC's smaller partners, which claimed that although they dedicate a large slice of their businesses to the vendor, they would not be able to reach the thresholds, prompting them to feel as if they had been demoted.

At a media roundtable event this morning, EMC talked up its ambitions in the mid-market along with two of its partners operating in the space.

Eamon Campbell, managing director of EMC partner Norisco, admitted that the revenue barriers are a problem for some of his fellow mid-market-focused resellers.

"Our first deal with EMC was half a million pounds – those are the deals [we do]," he said.

"But it would be a barrier for some resellers. It is something EMC might need to look at – they could have a badge for the mid-market [to show] it is a specialist programme within the partner programme."

He added that mid-market players should have different criteria to achieve the partner programme levels to ensure they are not locked out of the benefits afforded to other, larger partners.

EMC's UK channel boss Kevin Sparks would not be drawn on any specific plans to do this, but strongly hinted that the vendor had something up its sleeve.

"It is fair to see we are listening at the moment," he insisted. "I cannot make any announcements, but we are taking feedback from the channel about the benefits they see in terms of the programme."

Campbell added: "Something along those lines would help partners. If you made it more of a specific programme, it might make partners a bit more interested in coming on board. If you're looking at $1m plus [revenue threshold] and you start at zero, it is always going to be a bit of a gauntlet to run."

But not all aspects of BPP are geared towards larger partners, according to EMC partner Reciprocal's managing director Sarah Lellow.

She said although the revenue requirements are a bugbear, the way the company runs its accreditations rewards her company's investment.

"I quite like the channel as it is, except for the huge jump between Gold and Silver – it is too huge a gap," she said. "It is rigorous on accreditations every year and I actually quite like that.

"The deal registration – I have been stung there, where someone had heard about the opportunity. But I had something to go back to the customer and say 'guys, they are not accredited to do [this]' and that just swings it, instead of getting political with a customer.

"They see our accreditations and how hard we have worked to be an EMC reseller – it works in our favour. It has got better, but the SCCs and the CCs [Computacenter] – it is quite challenging for us as a smaller partner."