Broadcom to Drive More Deals Toward Partners

Broadcom this week announced it has revamped its global channel program for its software unit as part of an effort to create more services revenue opportunities for partners.

The company as part of its Expert Advantage channel program has also launched Expert Advantage Partner Finder, a search tool that makes it simpler for end customers to find specialized and certified services partners that participate at the highest levels of the company’s channel program.

The goal is to drive more services opportunities to partners that have invested in acquiring certifications for either the IT services management and application development platforms Broadcom gained with its acquisition of Computer Associates or the security tools the company gained when it acquired to enterprise division of Symantec, says Cameron Sedgwick, head of global services and education for Broadcom Software.

In addition, Broadcom is trying to encourage partners that have complementary skill sets to collaborate at the request of the customer, notes Sedgwick.

Getting partners to successfully collaborate can, of course, be challenging when they perceive each other to be rivals. However, if the customer requires partners to collaborate it become less likely one partner will deliberately see to antagonize another.

Broadcom then winds up spending less time playing the role of a marriage counselor, adds Sedgwick. In fact, Broadcom is specifically looking for partners that have the emotional maturity required to navigate complex relationships, noted Sedgwick. “We don’t want to see partners arguing with one another,” he says.

In some cases, a partner can wind up being their own worst enemy in their zeal to compete. Even if they wind up taking over an entire customer account the chance they will be invited to participate in another deal by the sales staff of a vendor diminishes greatly if for no other reason the customer was exposed to a level of contention that likely made them uncomfortable. The risk, after all, of losing the entire deal is simply too high, especially when there’s more than enough services revenue to go around for all concerned.