IBM replaces 18-year-old partner programme with new skills-based scheme
New PartnerWorld partner programme focuses less on revenue and more on skills and competencies
IBM has opened up about the introduction of its new partner programme, which replaces the previous one that had been around for 18 years and has a renewed focus on skills and competencies.
The new PartnerWorld programme was rolled out globally at the start of this month, with tiers changing from top-level Premier, Advanced and Member levels, to Platinum, Gold and Silver tiers respectively.
IBM has about 7,500 registered partners in the UK, and SCC, Computacenter, Portal and Logicalis have achieved top-level Platinum status. IBM goes to market in the UK via Avnet, Azlan, Arrow and Exertis.
The previous programme was introduced in 1999, meaning this is the first big overhaul in 18 years, save for some enhancements and changes along the way.
IBM's vice president for global business partners in the UK and Ireland Jim Edwards told CRN that the fast-changing technology landscape and digital transformation meant it was about time the partner programme had a significant makeover.
"We announced [the new programme] at Partner World last year, and we've evolved it over the past nine months to a point where we launched it this year," he said. "Partners have been well aware of what we've been doing and they've been involved themselves in shaping the programme to its launch point this month. The reason we've done it is because of the changes we are seeing in the industry and the fact that more and more, engagements that customers are demanding are about having high-value outcomes, as opposed to a pure procurement engagement. That's the key thing we've seen really change over the last few years.
"The PartnerWorld programme we've replaced has been in place for some years - about 18 years. The backdrop of 18 years ago, along the lines of supporting the PC business, has changed considerably. Partners don't want constant change, but the time was right for us to make some bold statements in terms of where we want to go with our partners."
In the previous programme, IBM revenue was the primary differentiator for partners, with the biggest-selling partners earning top-level status. Revenue is still an important consideration in the new set-up, but skills and certifications feature much more heavily, Edwards said. He explained that getting skilled up on new technologies such as cognitive computing and cloud is essential for partners' and IBM's future success.
"Skills and competencies are the core of the programme," he said. "This really drives and helps us create the best high-value ecosystem in the industry. That's what we want. This has to be based on skills and it has to be based on competencies which are relevant in the market today. That's why we've made the change."
Thirty-seven competencies have been announced so far, with five - and possibly more, depending on partner demand - in the pipeline.
IBM's recent Q4 resultsboasted strength in its so-called strategic initiatives business - cloud, analytics, security and mobile. Although overall sales in the quarter fell annually, this segment of the business contributed "a gross margin that raises overall IBM", the firm said.
Edwards added that this part of the business is crucial for partners to adopt.
"There are some key things in the programme which are focused on cloud and cognitive, there is no doubt about that," he said. "As part of being certain levels, there is a certain number of credits available to each partner for things like SoftLayer - a cloud offering - and BlueMix, a really sexy environment to help people rapidly develop applications. There is much more of an emphasis towards the new technologies. But having said that, it's equally valuable for our existing partners who are big in the infrastructure space."