Rubrik and NetApp partners to see increased benefit from greater co-operation, channel boss says

Rubrik's Jan Ursi speaks to CRN about the extended partnership with NetApp as the company announces a host of other updates

Rubrik's extended partnership with NetApp will allow partners to "benefit twice", Rubrik's senior director of EMEA channels and alliances Jan Ursi has said.

The changes to the partnership will see Rubrik services listed on NetApp's global price list and will bring closer alignment between the offerings of both companies to provide "deeper collaboration", Rubrik says.

NetApp will have the ability to resell Rubrik products, Rubrik Go Business Edition and Rubrik Go Foundation Edition while allowing partners and customers to more easily package NetApp's offering with the cloud and protection services Rubrik provides.

Rubrik has also announced new capabilities to its data security service, while Ursi credited the company's partner network for its role in establishing "multi double digit growth" year-on-year.

"There are elements of the Rubrik technology that are transacted over the NetApp price list but in many cases, it also drags additional components of the Rubrik portfolio that are transacted over the Rubrik price list," Ursi explained.

"So, what you will see going forward is that many of the partners will probably transact over the NetApp price list, but in the same project also transact some things over the Rubrik price list.

"So, a partner, especially a joint partner, benefits twice now because they will continue to get all the goodness of the NetApp partner programme and they will get all the goodness from the Rubrik programme.

"All NetApp customers can enjoy the Rubrik goodness in a very easy way through the channels that they are used to that they love and value. They can use all the credits they have in terms of discounts."

Ursi added that NetApp partners which have agreements with "large enterprises or large government institutions" will reap the rewards of this new partnership by being able to sell Rubrik services "through those framework agreements".

He also stressed that the ability to benefit from both partner programmes depends on whether "they are part of a double down programme that allows them to do that".

Rubrik has announced a slew of updates to its data security service such as automated mass recovery of applications, integration with automation frameworks like Palo Alto and two-factor system authentication, which Rubrik says will help customers better deal with ransomware attacks.

It has also introduced its disaster recovery SaaS platform AppFlows, which "enables IT teams to leverage their existing investments in backup systems" Rubrik says.

Ursi went on to praise Rubrik partners for their role in the "positive rolling momentum" the company is experiencing.

"We have seen multi double-digit growth year over year and the majority of that growth is partner attached," he added.

"And when I say partner attached, it means that it's our partner that has found the opportunity, or we found the opportunity together with our partner.

"That part of our business has been growing quicker than all the rest, which is encouraging, because that shows that the collaboration between the Rubrik teams, our channel partners and our technology alliances is increasing very quickly.

"And that sets us up for a very good year, and we're of course in investment mode because of that."

NetApp has also recently announced a raft of changes to its own partner programme, including new incentives and a greater focus on cloud.