Citrix bets big on fewer partners

Most 'influential' partners given dedicated account managers

Citrix is appointing dedicated partner account managers to only its most influential resellers in a bid to better focus on its channel business.

The virtualisation firm is following others in the industry by dedicating more time and effort to a smaller number of its partners. This will be demonstrated by the vendor more closely aligning its dedicated partner account managers with strategically chosen resellers.

"It's more of an evolution for us [in the UK] than a revolution," said Citrix UK channel boss Mark Beaumont.

"As we go into 2016 we are looking to focus our own partner account management resource on a smaller number of partners so they can go deeper and broader into those accounts and do more selling together and really help our partners grow."

He said the move is "certainly not" about reducing the overall number of resellers with which the company works, but just better focusing on certain ones.

The partners that get the special attention will not necessarily be those that transact the most with the vendor, Beaumont said.

"It's not just about revenue," he told CRN. "It is about a number of things. For example, some of our partners are very influential advisers in the space. They don't necessarily transact a lot but they are crucial in helping our joint customers get the right technology. We are looking to spend our time with partners who are the biggest influencers in the marketplace."

He said the measure of "influence" rather than revenue was the fairest way.

"It rewards those partners that just cannot compete on price," he said.