By Devi Madhavan, Vice President, Channel Sales & Enablement
On April 10, it was
announced
that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, awarded
DataCore Software with a 5-Star rating in its 2017 Partner Program Guide.
The annual CRN Partner Program Guide recognizes an elite subset of
companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in
their channel programs.
DataCore has been consistently awarded a 5-Star rating, so we wanted to
take the opportunity to discuss what it takes to be a “5-Star partner.”
First, let’s share a perspective on why DataCore is 5-Star directly from
one of our partners: “DataCore deserves the CRN 5-star rating not only
because of their partner enablement proficiencies, but because their
products drive additional value for DataCore partners – especially when
combined with an alliance partner like Lenovo so as to deliver a true, ‘all
in’ solution,” stated Mark Wylie, CEO at Flagship Solutions Group. “Even
though hyper-converged computing is a current trend, DataCore’s solution
has provided capabilities and benefits inherent to hyper-converged for
years. Now with a revamped Partner Program, I see DataCore able to
capitalize on a real inflection point in the industry.”
From DataCore’s perspective, we believe in providing unparalleled
opportunity for our partners. Our software-only approach enables DataCore
partners to go into deals with a highly competitive solution, a lower cost
and a differentiated approach to solving customer challenges. The added
benefit of this is that the margins we offer are significantly higher than
many — by 5-10 points — creating very attractive channel economics.
Beyond financial incentives, DataCore offers generous training incentives
to partners as well. For example, in 2016, training programs for new
partners were complimentary for the first year, including sales
professional training, solutions architect training, and our one week DCIE
certification that teaches partners to install DataCore products and become
a professional services partner. All of this training is a significant
investment for DataCore, which we proudly share with our partner community
because we understand that learning about how to solve a customer’s
business problems using software can be a powerful differentiator for their
business.
Furthermore, the professional services business is very lucrative, and we
are better equipping our partners in that field. This business often
involves a highly consultative sale, with a 3-5+ year roadmap involved.
Once trained in DCIE certification, our partners are basically making 100%
margins in this part of their business.
DataCore has also made it extremely easy to be a partner through activities
such as providing leads through the DataCore Partner Portal, removing fees
for new partners and for many existing renewals, and providing funding for
joint partner events. DataCore has always been a 100% channel-centric
distribution model, so we don’t compete with our own partners like many
competitive solutions do.
The DataCore partner program has experienced tremendous growth as a result
of all of these efforts and we are thrilled to see its continued success.
For example, our partnership with Lenovo has now allowed us to expand
channel reach through its business partner ecosystem, offering the new
Lenovo
DX8200D
appliance Powered by DataCore. We look forward to shining as a 5-Star
partner with all of our existing partners while welcoming new partners
along for the ride.
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