Commvault this week announced it has simplified its channel program as part of an effort to streamline processes in the wake of the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of that effort the provider of data protection platforms is moving to accelerate the sales cycle and speed payment of rewards, says Mercer Rowe, vice president of the Global Partner Organization at Commvault.
Commvault launched a revamped channel program last year, but Rowe notes that in the wake of the downturn it’s become apparent that tolerance for complexity among partners has been significantly reduced.
“In general, complexity is never a good thing,” says Rowe.
Other features added to the Commvault program include proposal-based marketing development funds, additional seller incentives, and a new governance practice for registering deals.
The company has also simplified how partners qualify for rebates, increased benefits for registering deals and is committing to making additional investments in its partner portal, training, accreditations, support, and sales and demand generation tools.
In the wake of the pandemic the way partners generate demand has evolved, notes Rowe. Partners are now investing more in creative digital marketing initiatives that include everything from exclusive sessions with celebrity chefs to golf lessons, says Rowe.
It’s unclear how the overall state of the economy will impact demand for IT products in the second half. However, the rapid shift of workloads to the cloud has created a need for a different approach to backup and recovery, notes Rowe. Less clear is the degree to which IT organizations are making data protection a priority during the downturn.
The one thing that is clear is data protection platforms will not sell themselves. As such, digital marketing efforts for partners that specialize in an area of IT that often gets overlooked by customers until there is an immediate crisis have never been more crucial.
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