VMware today announced a revamped channel program specifically designed to make it easier for partners to engage with VMware.
The rechristened VMware Partner Connect program consists of three tiers based primarily on the Master Services Competencies achieved, with the highest-level Principal Partners being eligible for the most rewards, including deployment and consumption incentives and collaborative business planning and co-selling opportunities.
VMware is also adding an Incentives and Development Funds portal, which provides dashboards through which partners can more easily track their activity.
In addition, the VMware Partner Connect for the first time will soon make recent VMware acquisitions Carbon Black, a provider of endpoint security software; Pivotal Software, a provider of application development and deployment platforms; and VeloCloud, a provider of a software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) platform, part of a unified VMware channel program.
Finally. VMware has unfurled VMware Learning Zone, which provides access to content in a way that partners can customize as they best see fit.
VMware via the revamped channel program is trying to make it simpler for partners that have multiple business models to engage with VMware, says Jenni Flinders, vice president and worldwide channel chief for VMware. Rather than having to get certified to sell a lot of products they won’t ever actually sell just to qualify for specific rewards, Flinders says VMware Partner Connect has been designed with input from partners that within the context of any given deal may be acting as a reseller, integrator or managed service provider (MSP).
“We wanted to make it easier for partners that have multiple business models,” says Flinders.
Partners will also be able to engage with a single point of VMware contacts versus having to navigate a lot of different silos, adds Flinders.
As part of that effort, VMware is also making it easier for partners to resell managed services provided by VMware without having to commit to becoming part of an entire cloud service provider program, notes Flinders.
That approach should allow partners to optimally focus their efforts on customer outcomes by eliminating the need for any unnatural behavior, adds Flinders.
The launch of VMware Partner Connect comes on the heels of the release of VMware’s financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year. Revenue for the fourth quarter was $3.07 billion, an increase of 11% a year ago. Net income fell to $321 million, down from $496 million a year ago, in part due to acquisition costs.
Revenue for fiscal year 2020 was $10.81 billion, an increase of 12% over the previous year. Net income for fiscal year 2020 was $6.41 billion, compared to $1.65 billion a year ago.
As is always the case with VMware, the long-term concern is always what impact the transition to the cloud will have on adoption of commercial virtual machine software in on-premises environments. Despite the number of workloads moving to public clouds, however, VMware continues to weather that storm by both making its software available on multiple public clouds and significantly expanding the overall product portfolio partners can resell and service.
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