Rackspace today extended its efforts to create a robust channel by making available additional tools and resources, including a larger number of dedicated partner account managers (PAMs).
In addition, there is now one single strategic partner agreement. Previously, Rackspace had multiple strategic partner agreements emanating from different business units, a situation that was further complicated by last year’s acquisition of Datapipe, a provider of managed services, says Lisa McLin, vice president of channel sales and alliances for North America.
Other changes to the Rackspace channel program include more events, additional Rackspace executives willing to serve as partner sponsors, a formalized market development fund (MDF), access to more sales and technical resources and a more structured approach to customer life-cycle management.
Rackspace is also committing to giving partners the opportunity to develop more joint marketing content together along with priority access to the Rackspace Customer Experience Center.
Overall, McLin says these latest extensions to the Rackspace channel program are another indication of both how serious Rackspace is about developing a robust channel program as quickly as possible.
In fact, McLin says Rackspace views these additions as the completing of Phase One of its channel program. Phase Two will focus more on certification programs and training as well as increasing the number of sales tools provided to partners, says McLin.
In general, McLin says Rackspace is looking to partner with solution providers that have deep business relationships with end customers. Rackspace can provide all the technical resources required. The opportunity for channel partners is to develop application expertise that leverages those technical resources. In many cases, that may mean focusing their sales efforts on the line of business executives rather than always focusing on the internal IT organization, says McLin.
In the meantime, McLin says the Rackspace relationship with the channel continues to improve.
“The one thing we’ve learned is that channel partners are not afraid to share feedback, says McLin.
McLin says Rackspace has come to value that feedback as the provider of IT services looks to create a larger ecosystem. Of course, it may take some solution providers time to get used to partnering with a rival that it has competed against when it comes to providing technical services. But as the size of the available market continues to expand, Rackspace is betting not only on new types of partners but also the fact that many traditional solution providers may prefer to not invest as much in developing IT services that are readily available elsewhere.
Be First to Comment