The right Channel Policy is designed to be Transparent and Profitable 

Technology has become an indispensable driving force behind business growth and innovation in the era of digital transformation. The continuous evolution of technology is opening up new avenues for businesses to collaborate and connect with each other and their customers in innovative ways. 

As businesses seek to expand their global reach and impact, partnerships are becoming increasingly crucial for success. A well-defined channel policy can significantly enhance a company's business cycle by streamlining operations, expanding market reach, and improving customer satisfaction. 

An effective channel policy outlines the strategies and guidelines for managing relationships with channel partners, ensuring that all parties are aligned and working towards common goals. We can’t deny the fact that, Partner programs vary from company to company based on their size, volume, and expertise. 

To achieve this, companies need to co-innovate, co-invest, and collaborate across the ecosystem. Essentially, channel policies are the rules and guidelines that govern the relationship between a company and its partners. They should be designed to create a mutually beneficial relationship that enables both parties to achieve their goals. 

The fact is that it is not enough to execute channel /Partner programs. The real change comes from identifying the tipping points within a system and directing efforts towards them. The essence of an alliance lies in its governance. With the right leaders, focused actions, and everyone in sync, alliances can work successfully and have the impact they intend to. 

There is a growing importance of alliances and partnerships in driving B2B sales, which is eventually prompting a shift in mindset. Organizations are increasingly recognizing the strategic value of alliances leaders and the need to elevate their representation in the C-Suite. A report states that less than 2% of all C-Suite roles are filled by alliances leaders, yet over 35% of all B2B sales are channel driven. 

The adoption of cutting-edge techniques and insights is indeed playing a pivotal role in enabling channel leaders to establish themselves as revenue leaders. These advancements are transforming the way channel partners operate, enabling them to gain a competitive edge and drive significant revenue growth. 

VARINDIA spoke with a few leading Channel Leaders from the industry who are transforming their businesses and establishing themselves as revenue leaders in their respective markets. Their success demonstrates the power of innovation and adaptability in today's dynamic business landscape. 

For HPE, partnerships are not just about business expansion but they promote innovation 

Amer Warsi    
Director Channel, SMB and Ecosystem - HPE India   

“Partners play a critical role for OEMs like us, and they are critical accelerators for business. They form a core entity in the process of bringing to life an organization’s business strategy and helping them reach their end customers. For HPE, these partnerships are not just about business expansion; they also promote innovation and agility. Our partners play a critical role in multiple areas – they help us in geo expansion, and in delivering complex system integration projects to customers which may involve products other than those offered by HPE to complete the solution.  
In any OEM/partner relationship, the presence of inherent predictability is of utmost importance. The foundation of such collaborations is rooted in unambiguous and open communication. We tactfully connect our partners with the right HPE business units, thus ensuring that both parties understand their respective roles in meeting the technology needs of our shared customers. We also provide our partners with the necessary tools, processes, and resources to develop and market products that empower their customers and drive business success.  
We also provide our partners access to our cutting-edge technology by allowing product testing and verification on HPE platforms. We offer them access to markets by enabling them to showcase their HPE-based products at HPE events, conferences, and through customized marketing plans. Ultimately, we recognize that successful partnerships are built on access to customers. HPE's existing relationships with many sales prospects offer our partners opportunities to leverage these connections to increase their revenue and market share.” 

Dell Technologies committed to strengthening the partner ecosystem with opportunities  

Anil Sethi    
Vice President & General Manager, Channels India, Dell Technologies  

“The Channel ecosystem has played a pivotal role in expanding Dell Technologies’ footprint. We are committed to grow this further by enhancing partner experience levels and building services led go-to-market strategies, aided by new incentives and distribution support. Our recent announcement on “Partner First Strategy for Storage” is a step towards this commitment. This marks a fundamental change in our go to market, resulting in over 99% of Dell customers and potential customers being considered partner first for storage.     
Channel partners have always been the driving force behind Dell Technologies’ business growth, and we are committed to further strengthening this ecosystem, with ample growth opportunities. To complement industry needs, we have also streamlined and enhanced the partner experience across multiple program tracks allowing solution providers, CSPs and OEM partners to enjoy one regional incentive structure, one tier structure, and one set of tier requirements. We make sure that partners are engaged and understand all the capabilities that we have. We listen to our partner’s feedback, and we will continue to review our operational model to ensure we’re optimizing and simplifying our engagement with partners.  
We launched our 2023 Partner Program in February with a renewed focus - Together, We Stop at Nothing. This celebrates the sixth anniversary of the program and its continued success with the partner community. We are building upon a position of partner strength. Partners are also leveraging next-gen solutions through our collaborations with OEMs like Microsoft, VMware, Red Hat and others.”  

Partner profitability is of paramount importance to Schneider Electric  

Swarup Das   
Director - Channel Sales, Greater India, Schneider Electric   

“The most crucial criteria of a partner relationship should be its simplicity and transparency. Schneider Electric has a multi-way communication process to ensure our message reaches partners in a concise, clear and transparent way. We make sure our messages are consistent, valuable, transparent, and effective.  
Recently we introduced the industry's 1st of its kind enablement program: Partner People Performance [P3]. P3 is a comprehensive program spread over 30 months with a framework based on Knowledge – Skill – Methodology. The best part about P3 Certification is that it is cobranded with IIT - Mumbai and NIIT. 
The profitability of our partners is of paramount importance to us, and we design our policies, programs, and rewards in line with that. Most incentive/reward policy we roll out is targeted toward driving the Revenue and behavioral aspect of our partner. We have a Yearly, Quarterly and monthly promotional scheme that keep running. Apart from that deal registration, deal closure, design tool usage and training completion attract further incentive. Our endeavor is to simplify our reward so that partners can enjoy the overall experience.  
“Growth” and “Profitability” are the foundation of any program. Our Partner Program helps amply the diverse value of our partners and highlights the true value of a channel ecosystem. Our partners can now collaborate, grow, and differentiate their business for the long term by becoming strategic adviser and experts in their market across multiple IT competencies.”

Western Digital continually redefines its approach to collaborating with partners

Khalid Wani    
Senior Director - Sales, INDIA, Western Digital   

“Partner programs hold an important role within organizations, and Western Digital acknowledges their strategic importance. We view our channel partners as essential assets, integral to our business strategy. They extend our market presence and contribute to mutual growth. Our programs foster a collaborative ecosystem, equipping our partners with the necessary resources, tools, and support, to effectively market and distribute our innovative solutions. By harnessing their market insights and expertise, we unlock new customer segments, enhance overall customer experiences, and tailor storage solutions meet the ever-evolving market needs.   
At Western Digital, we take pride in running one of the industry's most robust and successful partner programs. The key to this is our clarity and a sharp focus on a two-way partnership, and on our mutual success. We continually redefine our approach to collaborating with our partners, and the results are clearly visible across our partner network. While traditional communication methods often rely on email, we recognized the need for a more efficient approach in markets like India. To facilitate transparent and direct communication, we have embraced the WhatsApp Business platform within our "My WD" program. Western Digital values its channel partners and offers a comprehensive reward and incentive policy to support and motivate them. These incentives include financial rewards for achieving or surpassing sales targets, deal registration programs to protect partners' investments in opportunities, and marketing development funds to aid in promoting Western Digital products.” 

IBM working with its partners to help clients capitalize on AI     

Sunil Mahajan     
Director – Ecosystem, IBM India & South Asia      

“In today’s business landscape, it is very difficult for any organization to do it all alone and remain competitive. At IBM, the partner program plays a significant role in our growth strategy – primarily to be a multi-billion-dollar growth engine for us so that together we can make the most of a $1 trillion hybrid cloud and AI market opportunity.   
We have created a simple incentive structure that maximizes transparency and predictability for partners. Earlier this year, we launched the Partner Plus program which prioritizes our partners as a true extension of IBM and is centred around three pillars – competitive incentives, insider access and enhanced support and benefits – to help them drive business with clients and grow together.  We have witnessed a significant growth in the number of partners joining IBM’s ecosystem with the addition of over 4000 new registered partners globally since the program was announced in January, demonstrating the resonance and success of the initiative.   
As AI gains momentum with the latest developments like foundation models and generative AI, we are working along with our ecosystem to help clients capitalize on watsonx, IBM’s generative AI platform, by making it easier for organizations to design and deploy trustworthy AI that is more accurate, scalable, and adaptable than ever before. Partners are helping extend our reach and providing valuable industry-specific insights to support clients along their AI journey. In addition, our AI solutions along with the specialization of partners is a powerful combination to achieve differentiation in the market.” 

SonicWall looks at communication with partners as a two-way street  

Sanjeev Kumar   
Director - Channel Sales, SonicWall    

“SonicWall takes pride in the fact that it’s a 100% channel partner driven company. With more than 17,000 strong and active partners worldwide, our partners form the extended arm in protecting customers’ businesses every day. SonicWall’s partner programs offer several competitive  advantages namely  Extended Reach, Cost-Effective Growth, Faster Market Penetration, Customer Satisfaction to name a few thus enabling a win-win scenario for both the organization and our partners.  
SonicWall believes that communication with our Partners is a two-way street. We encourage our partners to express their expectations and concerns freely. By fostering open and transparent communication, we build strong, mutually beneficial partnerships that are more likely to achieve our joint goals and objectives. We encourage our partners to reach out to Leadership teams as well if they have any concern that need their intervention. 
SonicWall’s unique SecureFirst Partners program provides a single point of source known as the SecureFirst Partner Portal where they have access to all the support required such as marketing and training assets and other tools etc. The program provides backend rebates to partners who achieve targets. We also extend Marketing Funds to our partners to enable their business expansion programs, offer free training to develop their team along with various other investments from time to time to support them - like offering them Spiffs additional Back-end rebate for new customer logo acquisition etc. We are revamping our Secure First partner program with some new and unique features.” 

Sophos ensures to clearly define the key elements of its partner program 

Rajeev Gupta   
Director Channel Sales - India & SAARC, Sophos 

“For organizations such as Sophos, with a channel-first approach, partner programs are integral to our go-to-market strategies. Our business model revolves around our channel partners. In line with this partner-centric approach, our products and services have been designed to enable partners to effectively address customer’s security concerns and enhance profitability. In order to facilitate clear and transparent communication with our partners, we periodically collect feedback via anonymous partner surveys. These enable partners to share feedback on their experience of working with Sophos, rate our processes, and identify areas of improvement. 

Our partner program has been designed to reward commitment to Sophos. Partners can achieve profitability under two aspects of the program - 
Tiered discounts: We provide tiered discounts aligned to the respective partner tiers - Authorized Partner, Silver Partner, Gold Partner, Platinum Partner and Sub-distributors. These discounts help partners build consistent profitability. 
Margin retention opportunities: ‘Deal Registration’ and ‘Incumbency’ are the arrangements to provide margin retention to our partners. ‘Deal Registration’ enables partners to secure upsell, cross-sell and new customer opportunities, while ‘Incumbency’ helps them with renewing customers. 
Rebate program: We assign targets to certain focused partners. Upon achievement of the targets, these partners earn an additional percentage of the revenue as rebate.”

Pure Storage forever remains dedicated to a 100% channel-centric approach   

Jithesh Chembil    
Head of Channels - India, Pure Storage    

“Pure Storage considers a world-class partner program to be of utmost importance because it enables organizations to effectively address their customers' business and technology requirements with the support and expertise of a diverse range of partners. We consistently enhance our Partner program, taking into account partner feedback, customer needs, and our company's strategy to empower partners to achieve quicker, smarter, and more innovative business outcomes. Our belief is that the success of our customers and partners directly correlates with our success. Partnering with leading hardware, software, and multi-cloud vendors ensures swift and dependable solutions while delivering lasting value to their businesses.  
At Pure Storage, we value long-lasting partnerships with our channel partners. We believe these partnerships should benefit not only Pure Storage and our partners but also our end-user customers. We focus on trust as the foundation of our partnership and promise not to compete with our partners in any deal, guaranteeing them our complete support. This strategy ensures a win-win situation for Pure, our partners, and the end-users, delivering the best solution with top-notch technology and support.  
Pure Storage remains dedicated to a 100% channel-centric approach, exclusively focusing on working with our partners. We have established a benchmark in the industry by offering simplicity, flexibility, and value to our partners and customers, driving growth. At Pure, we consistently review and improve our Partner Program to recognize outstanding performance and offer the necessary training and resources to help our partners achieve remarkable outcomes.”

Acer's incentive program aims to inspire and acknowledge its valued channel partners 

Sanjeev Mehtani  
Chief Sales Officer - Acer India    

“Partner initiatives play a pivotal role in the growth and prosperity of businesses. They facilitate the expansion of market presence, streamline marketing and sales activities, and contribute to revenue growth. Partnering allows organizations to leverage collective strengths, ultimately enhancing customer experiences, reducing costs, and optimizing sales and distribution channels. These programs foster collaboration, drive innovation, and support market expansion, underscoring their indispensable role in achieving success within the competitive business environment of today. 
At Acer, we believe in open and transparent collaboration with our partners. We understand that our shared success hinges on clear expectations. To maintain effective communication, we conduct regular meetings, and webinars, and offer partner-specific portals. We provide comprehensive guidelines outlining our partners' responsibilities. Furthermore, we highly value partner feedback, actively encouraging a two-way conversation to adapt to market changes and partner needs. Our commitment to transparency ensures our partners are well-informed and fosters trust and cooperation, allowing us to achieve our corporate goals collectively. 
We offer financial rewards, performance-based bonuses, exclusive promotions, and training access. We assess partner performance with fairness and transparency, fostering excellence and cooperation in achieving our business objectives. This assessment includes key performance indicators such as customer satisfaction and revenue growth attributed to our channel partners. We actively observe partner engagement and collaboration through metrics like joint marketing initiatives, co-selling activities, and partner training participation.” 

ViewSonic attributes 50% of its success to its business partners in T1 and T2 categories   

Srinath P V   
IT Managing Hardware and Software solutions of the Consumer Channel, SME and Large Corporates - ViewSonic 

“The Partner Program is a cornerstone for the efficient operation of our business. Within the business ecosystem, channel partners are equal to the brand itself. Having experienced and dynamic business partners working alongside a brand is always preferred. A business partner's individual reputation, extensive reach, focus, infrastructure, and financial strength are critical factors in establishing a successful business. We attribute 50% of our success to our esteemed business partners, particularly in the T1 and T2 categories. Our finest-crafted partner program has achieved a remarkable 7%+ market share in the past 9 months. 
In response to the evolving preferences of partners, who increasingly seek full transparency from brands, ViewSonic has been providing information, data programs, and settlement details and successfully addressing issues through various apps and websites for the past 1.5 years. We firmly believe that our dedicated investment in creating this robust communication channel has been pivotal in establishing ViewSonic as a leading display solution provider. 
ViewSonic is firmly committed to the “Pay for Performance” principle within our channel policy, where increased business leads to greater rewards. As part of our reward policy, we actively seek to nurture new entrepreneurs, potentially individuals from the next generation within the same family. We are considering sponsoring these young and talented entrepreneurs to attend premium management institutes. This tactical move not only encourages brand loyalty but also broadens their knowledge and experience, enabling them to successfully meet the demands of contemporary commercial competitiveness.” 

Tally has an organized approach while working with its partners     

Anil Bhargavan     
General Manager - Certified Partner Sales, Tally solutions     

“We are a partner-centric organization and partners are the core of our customer relationships. We have always worked towards crafting engaging and beneficial partner programs to ensure that our partners remain enthusiastic about Tally business and accomplish their entrepreneurial goals through our collaboration. Our work with every partner is focused on four pillars - Aspiration, Reputation, Customers and Community. We believe that a happy set of growing and profitable partners that are working towards customer delight and have complete trust in Tally’s business and product philosophies will help us reach our goals.  
At Tally, we have an organized approach when working with our partners. At the start of the fiscal year, we sit down with them to create a clear business plan. Together, we make a detailed plan that outlines what they want to achieve in terms of sales and business throughout the year. We also provide support in marketing and sales activities to help them reach these goals. 
We regularly check how things are going with the plan. Each partner is assigned a dedicated business manager who helps partners be on track and course correct, if required to ensure that everything is as per the plan. This collaborative process helps partners understand exactly what is expected of them, making it easier for everyone to work together successfully. All this is made possible due to the collaborative efforts from partners and dedication of our internal team members along with the use of technology, which in this case is an effective CRM software.”

Commvault dedicated to clear and open lines of communication with its partners   

Praveen Sahai  
Vice President, Channels, Alliances & Service Provider, APJC, Commvault    

“Strategic alliances and collaborative ecosystems are the cornerstones of future business growth. Commvault recognizes partners not merely as collaborators; they are deeply integrated within our ecosystem, shaping our core. We champion this vision, harnessing partnerships to navigate challenges, seize opportunities, and cultivate thriving business landscapes.  
We are deeply committed to simplifying, solving, and evolving with our partners, placing them at the heart of our operations. Transparent communication serves as the linchpin of these partnerships. Over the past three years, we have witnessed a transformative shift in the relationship between partners and vendors. This evolution has strengthened trust and communication, paving the way for a more collaborative future. At Commvault, we are dedicated to clear and open lines of communication. The mantra of reinvention and recalibration guides our work, ensuring that our partners have the right skill sets and tools to meet the demands of the industry. Our incentive and reward policies underscore our commitment to partner success. The Commvault Partner Advantage program is designed to drive profitability for our partners. We empower our partners to thrive in the competitive market through performance rewards, deal registration benefits, and innovative seller incentives. Commvault's Seller Incentive Program is one of the industry's most lucrative and easy-to-achieve seller incentives. The program rewards individual partner account executives (AE) and sales engineers (SE) to incentivize new customer wins. Looking ahead, our focus remains on innovation and simplicity. We are shaping the future and building it together with our partners.”

Strategic partnerships help FileWave extend its reach to a broader audience   

Tim Bell   
VP of Sales, APAC and EMEA - FileWave   

“At FileWave, we consider partner program a cornerstone of our success in APAC. Our partner ecosystem brings a wealth of local knowledge, industry expertise, and established customer relationships to the table. These strategic partnerships allow us to extend our reach and deliver FileWave solutions to a broader audience. The partner program serves as a catalyst for our business growth, enabling us to access new markets and customers efficiently while focusing on our core strengths.  
Transparent communication is a fundamental element of our partnership strategy. To ensure clarity and alignment, we have invested in a dedicated Partner Portal, a centralized online platform that provides our partners with 24/7 access to a comprehensive set of resources. This includes sales and marketing materials, product information, and program guidelines. Our Partner Portal simplifies access to the latest updates and facilitates interactive engagement. Additionally, we conduct regular partner meetings, webinars, and one-on-one discussions to maintain open lines of communication. We offer our partners a detailed partner guide that outlines expectations, responsibilities, and program benefits. We also actively seek feedback through surveys and evaluations to continually improve our collaboration, address any concerns promptly, and ensure that our partners are well-informed and confident about their roles within our ecosystem.  
Our incentive and reward policy are designed to recognize and motivate our partners for their exceptional performance. We have implemented a tiered program that rewards partners based on their level of commitment and their success in promoting FileWave solutions.” 

For CrowdStrike, the primary focus is always centered around the customer    

Girish Gargeshwari    
Channel Director, Asia, CrowdStrike     

“At CrowdStrike, we see partnerships as a spectrum and examine every facet of a partnership, from enhancing profitability paths to engaging our system engineers or customer-facing activities that drive new opportunities. Our primary focus is always centered around the customer. This customer-centric approach creates tangible value and more profitable pathways. It all comes down to building strong relationships from seller to seller, manager to manager and leader to leader across the entire organization.   
CrowdStrike highlights the importance of its partners, including resellers and technology alliances, in delivering its Falcon platform to a broad customer base.  Our new Accelerate program unites cybersecurity partners of all types - consisting of VARs, MSPs, MSSPs, GSIs, SIs, cloud marketplaces, distributors, telcos, OEMs, insurers, incident responders, ISVs and more - around the joint mission of our mission of stopping breaches. These partners enhance CrowdStrike's offerings with complementary products, ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty. Partner programs also boost brand awareness, market share, and overall customer contentment, making collaboration with partners crucial for organizational success.  
Clear and transparent communication lies at the heart of our partnerships. Our Annual Partner Conference provides a platform for our partners to engage with CrowdStrike leadership at APJ & Global level to share insight on market trends and opportunities and also a forum to share feedback on what's working and what is not working. We also conduct annual partner surveys covering various aspects of our lifecycle management, enabling us to spot areas for improvement and refine our channel first approach strategy and partner programs.”  

Ingram Micro has a 360-degree approach to communication while working with partners  

Minakshi Samant    
Executive Director and Head of Sales, Ingram Micro India   

“We strongly believe that a partner program helps us drive our business across geographic realms. Once a partner program is structured and executed effectively, it can potentially help organizations leverage the partner’s strength and capability to expand their reach and serve end customers with customized solutions.  
Partners often bring specialized knowledge and expertise in specific industries, technologies, and verticals, which can help organizations expand their reach and accelerate the time-to-market for new products/solutions. Additionally, as partner programs help foster trust and confidence with a wide range of partners, they enable us to extend on-the-ground support and services to end customers.  
At Ingram Micro, we aspire to create a culture of clear and transparent communication so that each channel partner is aware of what is expected of them and contributes to the best of their capabilities in building a foundation for a successful, mutually beneficial relationship. Our 360-degree approach to communication starts with a structured onboarding process and detailed agreements, which clearly outline the roles, responsibilities, and expectations of all the stakeholders. Once we have a clear understanding of our partners’ expertise, knowledge, and competence, it becomes quite easy to collaboratively decide the short-term or long-term goals. Subsequently, we organize multiple partner connections—individually as well as on a larger forum to discuss all the new opportunities or challenges. Additionally, regular communications with partners electronically or through dedicated account managers also enable us to devise a more flexible growth and expansion plan.”

GoTo proactively seeks for a clear emphasis on improving its channel and product offerings     

Yvette McEnearney   
Senior Director, Channel Sales - APAC, GoTo   

“GoTo is a channel-first company. Channel partners, from distributors, resellers, system integrators, and other technology partners, play a pivotal role in shaping our business strategy. Their efforts are instrumental in navigating the markets that we tap into. To help our partners reap business benefits, we establish a dedicated support system for them. We have specialised partner managers, pre-sales, and operations teams who work directly with our partner organisations to address their most pressing concerns, enabling them to develop their businesses with our solution offerings.   
Last year, we launched GoTo Resolve for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), a specific option of our flagship product GoTo Resolve tailored to help our partners offer their clients frictionless and secure IT support and enable them to exceed customer expectations. In India, we witnessed 60% growth in channel partner revenue along with 20% growth in new customers year on year, including Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited, Suzlon, Shahi Exports. The customers we cater to are widespread across sectors like Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Higher Education, and Healthcare. We believe this is a testament to our robust IT portfolio and the dedicated efforts of all our channel partners in delivering customer excellence.   
At GoTo, we are proactively seeking expansion opportunities in India and SAARC region, with a clear emphasis on improving our channel and product offerings. We have made significant investments in this area. Through customising marketing campaigns and optimising our visibility, our aim is to boost demand and sales for our partners.”

IceWarp prioritizes transparent communication with partners to maintain trust and motivation

Anita Kukreja      
Head - Marketing & Channel Sales, IceWarp       

“Ensuring clear and transparent communication with our partners is fundamental to IceWarp’s collaborative success. We achieve this through detailed partnership agreements outlining roles and responsibilities. Regular meetings serve as platforms for open dialogue, addressing concerns, and sharing updates. Designated points of contact on both sides ensure prompt and accurate information exchange. We encourage partners' feedback, refining our communication approach continually. Transparent decision-making processes and defined performance metrics provide clear expectations. Timely updates on strategies and policy changes keep partners informed and adaptable. By fostering this atmosphere of openness and clarity, we build trust, strengthen relationships, and enhance the effectiveness of our partnerships, ensuring mutual growth and success.  
Our incentive and reward policy for partners is tailored to acknowledge their valuable contributions and foster strong, mutually beneficial relationships. Partners are incentivized through various means, such as incentives for the Sales, Inside Sales team as well as their Presales team. We also reward with performance bonuses tied to achieving specific milestones, and exclusive offers on our products/services. Additionally, we offer co-marketing opportunities to enhance their visibility and access to a broader audience. Exceptional partners might receive recognition through partner of the month/year awards, featured spotlights on our platforms, or invitations to exclusive events. We prioritize transparent communication about incentive structures and ensure timely payouts to maintain trust and motivation. This policy is crafted to not only recognize their efforts but also to strengthen our collaborative endeavors, promoting shared success and long-term partnerships.” 

SAS’s program is tailored to meet the ever-growing needs of partners   

Manish Nair    
Head-Global Channels, India/ASEAN/S. Korea - SAS      

“Partnerships are essential for an organization's success and play a central role in gaining a competitive advantage through indirect market expansion. SAS’s partner program is crucial for expanding our reach & enables us to leverage the network, expertise, and resources of partners to access new markets and customer segments. This broader market exposure is often challenging to achieve independently, and partnerships provide a strategic gateway to tap into uncharted territories. By working with partners, we can enhance their market penetration, acquire new clients, and ultimately increase revenue for both entities involved.  
SAS’s partner program is tailored to meet the ever-growing needs for partners to successful with us. It provides partners with support across the lifecycle of partner engagement which involves partner recruit, onboard, enable, engage & govern. Few of the key features which SAS partner program emphasizes include – 
•    Assistance in joint business planning to drive mutual goals. 
•    Opportunity life cycle management (Lead to opportunity to closure)  
•    Marketing support to drive demand generation. 
•    Superior partner enablement to access SAS market leading technology.  
At SAS, we maintain high standards of engagement with Partners for them to be successful. SAS empowers partners with extensive tools and technologies to be successful in executing joint business plans, which includes exhaustive enablement programs across partners sales & technical teams which are delivered digitally through SAS dedicated partner portal which helps partner resources to build skills to sell, deliver, implement, and maintain SAS.”

Elevating Business Potential and Bridging Divides: The Power of Strategic Partnerships

Rajat Vohra  
Chief Sales Officer, Redington Limited   

“In today's ever-evolving business landscape, characterized by rapid technological advancements, changing consumer preferences, and global market dynamics, strategic partnerships have become essential for achieving growth and overcoming market challenges. These partnerships represent a deliberate and calculated approach to teaming up with other businesses or organizations to leverage complementary strengths, resources, and capabilities. They offer a structured and strategic method for businesses to harness the potential of partner ecosystems. Instead of navigating the complexities of the modern business world in isolation, organizations can join forces with partners to create synergies that drive mutual success.  
Strategic partner programs are the linchpin of this collaborative approach, serving as the framework through which businesses formalize and manage their partnerships. These programs are designed to foster cooperation, optimize resource allocation, and align the efforts of partners with the broader objectives of the organization. In essence, they act as a roadmap for businesses to navigate the intricacies of collaboration, ensuring that all parties involved are working towards a common purpose.  
Partnerships are not one-size-fits-all. Effective partner programs involve categorizing partners to optimize resource allocation. This ensures that each partner receives tailored support and attention based on their potential and capabilities. Moreover, partner programs open doors to markets that may be difficult to access directly. They facilitate end-customer engagement, solution integration, and service delivery. These programs serve as gateways to untapped opportunities, expanding an organization's reach and influence.”

F5 ensures to equip its partners with knowledge to provide value to its customers    

Munish Bhasin     
Director- Channels & Alliances, F5       

“At F5, we prioritize our channel partners and encourage them to provide value through sales and services. A partner program offer expands market reach and customer base access through collaboration with other entities. It's a cost-effective & a highly impactful approach, leveraging partners' resources for efficient marketing and sales. Diversification, innovation, and credibility are fostered by partnering with reputable organizations. Focus on core competencies is maintained while benefiting from partners' specialized expertise. Joint resources, cross-selling opportunities, enhanced customer satisfaction, and retention are some of the additional advantages.  
We strongly believe that spreading knowledge and replicating our skill set within the channel will actually help us to scale. Here at F5, we communicate and impart knowledge and expectations on a continuous basis through training, roadshows, webinars, account as well as geography planning. We ensure that our partners are equipped to provide value to our customers through sales and services. These trainings are done on a regular basis to ensure that our channel partners are upto date and aware of the expectations of the customers. We have partner programs such as F5 Unity+ Programs, Global Systems Integrators Program and Authorized Training Center Program, through which they avail the benefits such as- high margins on F5 solutions and prior access to the F5’s market-leading solutions.  
We also, believe in recognizing and rewarding our partners who work with us to drive success through annual awards and recognition.”

Partner program continues to drive Kaspersky’s business  

PL Subramanian   
Head of Channel Sales - Kaspersky SOUTH ASIA      

“As a 100% channel driven company, our partner program is the heart in driving our business.  Kaspersky prides itself on continuously improving its channel partner program, Kaspersky United. Our company’s award-winning partner program provides partners and resellers with all the tools, incentives and support needed, including technical and competency skills, for our partners to increase their business growth faster than their competitors.   
The program is designed in a way where the monetary benefits are more aligned with the reseller’s own goals. The rebates become more transparent and predictable and cover more Kaspersky products and services. Training updates include new courses for MSPs, sales and technical specialists, and 10 new authorized training centers across the globe. MSPs now also receive higher rebates and simpler status progression from registered to platinum. The innovations come in alignment with Kaspersky’s channel strategy for enhanced partner education and support, strong focus on enterprise products and on MSPs  
Monetary rewards become available for more products, services and premium support included in the Kaspersky price list. This allows IT providers to earn more through selling a wide range of offerings. Partners can also earn rebates starting from Silver status and receive a progressive rate while moving to the next Gold and Platinum levels. The rate also depends on which solution the sold product belongs to: the initial reward is for Kaspersky Security Foundations, it increases for Kaspersky Optimum Security and reaches the maximum at Kaspersky Expert Security solution. The program also allows for a single sales target for our B2B rebate program. A partner can be more flexible in its priorities and sell any mix of products - they all are accounted for in one target.” 

A well-defined partnership model outlines how partners and Hitachi Vantara can work together

Darsshan Somaiya    
Partner Sales Organisation, Hitachi Vantara  

“Partners are a critical part of every business, and implementing well-planned partner programs helps to drive mutual success. Partnership models of resell, deliver, manage, and create are based on three pillars - Trusted, Predictable, and Sustainable. The organization builds client trust by outlining clear goals to tackle client challenges and designing innovative solutions to address them.   
We have formed a partner technical advisory committee with key channel eco-system partners, involving them in decision-making processes and seeking their feedback to ensure alignment with their expectations. The collaborative approach strengthens our partnerships and reinforces transparent communication. Additionally, our partnership models of reselling, delivering, managing services, and co-creating are all based on predictable, profitable, and pioneering pillars.   
We have a well-defined partnership model that outlines what is expected of our partners and how we can work together to achieve mutual success. This, combined with our commitment to client trust through setting clear goals and designing innovative solutions, further solidifies the foundation of our partnerships. We also assist our partners in aligning with technology alliance counterparts, enhancing ecosystem efficiency, and expanding brand offerings, all of which contribute to a transparent and mutually beneficial partnership ecosystem. At Hitachi Vantara, the partner program is developed around 3 P’s – Predictable, Pioneering and Profitable. We provide Predictability to the partner business by way of clearly defining the rebate structure (the simulation of the same is available on our partner portal). We pride ourselves in providing one of the best rebate programs in the industry today.”

NetApp’s unwavering commitment towards partners gets manifested in its programs     

Ganesan Arumugam      
Director - Channel Sales, NetApp India      

“Partner programs play a vital role in a company’s marketing strategy. Our partners are at the core of our business, propelling our growth and success. We've built our foundation on a 100% channel partner model, which has consistently delivered impressive results. The strategic NetApp Partner Sphere Program we've put in place simplifies operations for partners of all kinds, aligning perfectly with their go-to-market strategies. As a part of our strategy, regular meetings and an advisory board offer a platform for collaboration and feedback from our partners, helping us enhance our offerings continually.  
Through our partner program, we leverage the strengths and expertise of our partners, creating a mutually beneficial scenario for all parties involved. The relationships we have built with our partners are invaluable, and our unwavering commitment remains in evolving our program to support their growth and success.  
Our commitment to partners’ growth is indicative in the margins and incentives we offer to those who market NetApp solutions, alongside offering comprehensive marketing assistance and resources. Our primary aim is to empower them to generate demand and secure new business opportunities. The NetApp Partner Sphere Program brings in new engagement models and tiering systems that incentivise and accelerate their reach in flash and cloud with reciprocal value that increases as partners move up the program tiers. In addition, the program offers 11 services certified tracks and 19 solution competencies aligned to three key focus areas that enable them to expand their services portfolio and become trusted advisors to their customers.”

Netskope emphasizes on the importance of setting clear goals for its partners   

Matt Paull    
Vice President Channel & Alliances APJ - Netskope      

“A strategic and well thought out partner program is the linchpin of an organization's success. At the heart of our partnerships lies transparent and open communication, which we believe is the cornerstone of trust-building, sustained mutual success, and respect. From the outset, we emphasize the importance of setting clear goals, defining mutual objectives, and expectations we have of each other. Our partner portal serves as a comprehensive real-time library, offering access to the latest information, marketing resources, training content and knowledge paths, partner incentives, and support materials.  
We leverage regular communications channels like newsletters, social media, webinars and live forums to ensure our partners stay updated on industry trends and product advancements. Moreover, we champion an open-door policy - ensuring every member of our team is accessible to our partners - actively encouraging constructive feedback to celebrate our wins, address concerns and foster collaborative growth.   
Netskope's incentive and reward policy, which forms part of our global Partner Evolve Program, is designed to be a strategic catalyst for ongoing partner success. Partnerships are a symbiotic relationship, and our priority is empowering our partners to thrive, fueled by our commitment to the mutual goals and objectives we set together. We offer tailored programs that recognize and reward our partners for their achievements, and stimulate demand for continued success. Our broad incentive framework not only enables our partners to capitalize on financial rewards, it extends to strategic sales and technical enablement and co-marketing opportunities.” 

Trellix believes in fostering open channels of communication with partners 

Rahul Arora  
Managing Director India & South Asia - Trellix 

“Partner programs are an important part of any sales strategy that helps to keep the partner community engaged, create stickiness with the brands and help in faster business growth. With their extensive network, pan India reach, and technical know-how, partners not only support us to provide a good customer experience and a faster go-to-market, but they also share business intelligence that helps us develop and deploy new and updated products in line with the needs and demands of the market. 
At Trellix, our partners have the unique opportunity to create and provide value-added services on top of the only XDR platform of its kind. Trellix XDR employs a "living security" strategy with broad and in-depth interconnections to both local and third-party sources. Because of this, partners can quickly integrate Trellix into their clients' existing environments and sell to customers all around the world. In addition to adding comprehensive detection, response, and remediation of cyber threats affecting operations, our XDR platform also reduces complexity and boosts efficiency. 
At Trellix, we believe in fostering open channels of communication with our partners. We ensure clarity and transparency by upholding the principles outlined in our Xtend Global Channel Partner Program. By adhering to the values outlined in our program, we cultivate a collaborative environment where expectations are clear, communication is transparent, and achievements are duly rewarded. We hold regular knowledge sharing sessions to share technology updates and insights on the cyber security landscape and market.” 

Check Point doubles its channel investment in India in 2023    

Manish Alshi     
Head, Channels, Check Point Software Technologies, India & SAARC    

“For 30 years, Check Point has had a policy of being a 100% channel-led business, with the partner program at the core of our strategy. Our company’s mission is to provide the finest security while also giving possibilities for partners to grow and become more successful leveraging programs and tools for better predictability and profitability.  
With new programs and initiatives introduced in 2022 to our Partner Program, we were able to increase our deal registrations substantially, year on year and also on-boarded 150+ new partners, who underwent our training and certification program. With consistent support from our partners, we were also able to establish a successful go-to-market strategy around new customer acquisitions through White Space account coverage across the country. 
In addition to our consistent support for our partners, Check Point has doubled its investment in India in 2023, whether it is from a channel coverage or channel development perspective or from a product capability perspective. In 2023, we launched our India instance of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration Security Solution, to address an essential requirement of data residency requirements from RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and more, to maintain records of data locally especially for the BFSI and Government sectors.  In addition, our partner team size has doubled over the last 12 months, as have our investments in our joint GTM strategy with our partners.” 

Juniper takes pride in keeping an open line of communication with its partners   

Harshavardhan Kathaley   
Director, Channel Sales (India & SAARC), Juniper Networks   

“A partner program is a fundamental element in an organization's strategy to drive business growth. It acts as a bridge between the company and its customers, with channel partners playing a pivotal role in representing the company and expanding its market reach. The success of a partner program depends on its structure, which should prioritize simplicity in terms of program requirements and benefits it offers to partners. These include rebates, marketing development funds, deal registration benefits as well as support for partner skill development. 
In today's highly competitive business environment, a well-structured partner program can account for a substantial percentage of an organization's revenue and market share. However, challenges can arise in implementing and maintaining partner programs, which include recruitment and onboarding of partners, ensuring consistent engagement, and measuring the program's ROI. Overcoming these challenges is crucial for long-term success.  
At Juniper, we pride ourselves on being transparent and keeping an open line of communication with our partners. By closely aligning our goals and priorities with our partners, we establish clear, regularly reviewed performance metrics to ensure achievability and address any challenges or adjustments.  
Along with proactive and open communication, we also offer sellers, technical individuals, marketers, and business leaders of partner organizations a rich set of tools such as our partner portal and other platforms. These resources help to shorten sales cycles, get 360 views into business with Juniper and collaborate in real-time with us to ensure that our partners are always aware of the latest incentives, support and training.”

An important element of Veeam’s GTM strategy is its network of partners 

Amarish Karnik  
Director - Channel Sales, Alliance & Cloud and Service Provider - India & SAARC, Veeam Software  

“Veeam firmly believes that the success of partners, in turn, reflects on our success as an organization. We are a 100% channel company, our partner programs and our investments in the channel community are designed to help our partners grow, as we grow our business in the market, which makes it a very exciting prospect for our channel partners. We are committed to embracing "disruption" by bringing in innovation into our product lineup and partner programs. Given the shifts in market dynamics, our partner initiatives are always at the forefront of innovation, adapting to changing needs and remaining pertinent to industry requirements. 
The most important element of our go-to-market strategy is our network of partners since they enable us to adapt to changing market conditions and better meet client needs. In addition, our partner ecosystem enables us to scale our business across many sectors and marketplaces (Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3). We believe Partner Program is not just about backend rebate, instead it should be a means to help partners build new skills so that they can build more profitable business. Over the years Veeam has built an extensive partner network to constitute a strong channel ecosystem across markets. 
At Veeam, we understand how important it is to have simple and flexible partner programs that meet the unique needs of a varied partner network. Our partner programs are aimed at empowering all our partners to thrive in the evolving business landscape and better respond to customer demands.”

Partners are critical to Zoom as it continues to grow as a platform 

Vishal Amin    
Channel Head - India & SAARC, Zoom Video Communications       

“Zoom’s diverse partner network is core to Zoom’s foundation and plays a critical role in delivering exceptional solutions and opportunities to customers around the world.  Providing a simple yet comprehensive journey for partners to elevate their practices is vital to the success of Zoom, its partners, and its customers. Our partners, that sell or refer Zoom as well as partners that we innovate with (technology partnerships, ISVs, etc.), are critical as Zoom continues to grow as a platform. Zoom is a solution that drives change, and change requires management – partners can assist customers with those changes. The Zoom Up Partner Program is centered around empowering partners to grow their practice alongside Zoom, providing the highest level of solution and service for their customers, and achieving greater rewards and profitability. Zoom’s speed of innovation meets the modern pace of business, stays ahead of customers’ evolving needs, and delivers exceptional customer experiences. 
Our latest innovations, underpinned by powerful AI capabilities, announced at Zoomtopia demonstrate our commitment to evolving our platform in ways that empower limitless human connection, solve real business problems, and strengthen customer relationships. In India and SAARC, our partners include Rahi Systems, Tata Teleservices, Savex Technologies and TechUnited Solutions. Zoom is committed to supporting our partners and working together to drive continued momentum and growth in the region.  
At Zoomtopia 2023, Zoom unveiled the next evolution of the Zoom Up Partner Program - a holistic partner development and reward model which will be available to all partner types.”  
 

InstaSafe remains transparent with partners when it comes to business communications

Romita Das      
Manager Distribution and Channels-- Indian Subcontinent, InstaSafe     

“Partner programs vary from company to company based on their size, volume, and expertise. However, the overall objective of most corporate partner programs is to win partner mindshare and future growth. The success of corporate partner programs in India depends heavily on how robust, friendly, and committed the channel policies they have designed to address the hyper competitive technology industry in India. A well-structured partner program should be mutually beneficial. When partners succeed, the OEMs also benefit. This can create a strong incentive for partners to actively promote and sell the organization's products or services. Partnering with the right companies can provide a competitive advantage. By offering bundled solutions, complementary services, or unique value propositions, organizations can stand out in the market.   
InstaSafe as a team has always been very transparent when it comes to business communications, before any deal that we sign up with a partner or a distributor from planning to commercials we keep it very transparent. Our deal registration process to closing deals are discussed with the partners, deals are locked in our CRM, where our partners can track the entire process with their access until the closure of the deal. In case there is a change request from the customer while on the sales cycle, we clearly communicate to our partners to avoid any further confusions. Partners and distributors are very crucial to any cybersecurity business model, in fact they are an extended arm of our team.”

Barracuda’s relationship with partners continue to accelerate and strengthen  

Parag Khurana    
Regional Sales Director, India, Barracuda Networks   

“At Barracuda, our success is defined by the success of our channel partners. Our partner program is based on a ‘shared success’ model, where we work alongside our partners to help them secure new business and build revenue from our products as they meet the evolving needs of their customers.  
For example, in 2023, many customers are looking to achieve more from their IT security budgets. They want to expand their cloud- and service-based consumption of security solutions, have access to flexible, multi-channel buying options and implement 24/7 monitoring, detection, and remediation to defend against aggressive, rapidly evolving threats. We are helping our partners meet those customer needs through an advanced and innovative product and service portfolio that is available through multiple channels, while always remaining easy to install, manage and use.  
Our relationships with partners, including Managed Service Providers and our alliance, hyper-scaler partners such as AWS and Microsoft Azure, continue to accelerate and strengthen. A good example of this is the integration of our Email Protection with Amazon’s Security Data Lake.  
Communication and mutual understanding sit at the heart of a successful channel programme. We take advantage of every formal and informal opportunity to meet and listen to our partners and their customers and learn as much about their businesses and challenges as possible. A good example of this is our Partner Advisory Boards, which meet to regularly discuss key issues.” 

Partner program serves as the cornerstone of Eaton’s go-to-market strategy     

Deb Banerji   
Director – Sales, Power Quality Business, Eaton Power Quality        

“Eaton recognizes that the success of its business heavily relies on the collaboration with its channel partners. The partner program known as “Power Advantage Partner Program” is of paramount importance to Eaton in driving its business forward. This program serves as the cornerstone of our go-to-market strategy, as it empowers us to collaborate closely with our channel partners. Through this program, we extend our reach and ensure that our products and solutions are readily accessible to a broader customer base. It helps us leverage the expertise, local knowledge, and customer relationships of our partners to accelerate growth and enhance customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the program fosters loyalty and commitment among our partners, making it a win-win proposition for all stakeholders.   
Eaton places a high emphasis on clear and transparent communication with our channel partners. We achieve this through a multifaceted approach. This includes a diverse array of communication channels, encompassing regular meetings, training sessions, webinars, and maintaining an open line of dialogue for our valued partners.  
In addition, we ensure clarity by setting clear performance expectations and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for our partners. Eaton provides comprehensive product information, marketing materials, and sales resources, ensuring that channel partners have access to the latest updates and expectations. Additionally, Eaton’s dedicated account managers and support teams work closely with partners to address their needs, concerns, and queries promptly, fostering a relationship built on trust and clarity.”

NTT evolving its partner ecosystem with the right mix of partners  

Shantaram Shinde   
Channel Sales - NTT Ltd in India      

“The NTT Partner Program is a 15+ year-old ecosystem that has evolved over time to adapt to the market and enable partners to maximize their benefits from it. It initially aimed to address the geographical coverage gap in a country as widely spread as India, with its rich cultural and linguistic diversity. Recognizing its importance in the early 2007-2008 period, we commenced the partner program. This program is vital as it tackles various challenges prevalent in a country like India. It not only shortens the sales cycle but also leverages partner relationships with clients for Service Provider/OEM. Additionally, it facilitates quick GTM (Go-To-Market) strategies and outreach, assisting customers and prospects in the consumption of new technology services. On the other hand, it enhances partner competencies and capabilities, augmenting the revenue stream. 
The NTT BPA (Business Partner Agreement) clearly articulates and communicates the expectations from each party in the Business Engagement. It clearly defines roles and responsibilities for each party, leaving hardly any room for ambiguity. The Partner Program, Pay-out Policy, MDF, Rebates, Marketing Support, and Co-Branded events are all discussed with Partners during the onboarding process itself. 
In addition to the Partner Pay-out policy, NTT has a rewards and recognition policy for Partner sales and presales teams. We reward every deal that exceeds a certain threshold. Furthermore, we have the Partner of the Month, Partner of the Quarter, and Super Achiever awards for the top 10 Partners who surpass their quota numbers.”

ESDS expanding its partner business and making them sustainable in the long run    

Piyush Somani    
Chairman and Managing Director, ESDS Software Solution     

“Channel partners are essential to any firm's success when it comes to the go-to-market strategy. As the public face of the business, partners have the power to persuade prospective clients to become lifelong clients.  

Partners are ESDS’ extension and an inseparable asset. Our partner program is well-organized, extremely rewarding, and keeps investing in the channel's talent development. The show is flexible enough to adapt to shifting consumer demands and channel objectives. We consider each industry, its business environment, room for expansion, and how well our products and services fit into the current or developing ecosystem. So that it must be profitable to reinvest in staff training and skill development, enabling them to make a compelling argument to their partners.  

A satisfied partner is crucial to success, and in order to achieve that, a vendor must comprehend the needs of its channel partners, which are essential for competing and rising to the top. To create a compelling and profitable partner Programme, we ensure that there is an understanding of the exact requirements of the partners. A solid partner Programme should include substantial rebates, deal registration, lead creation, account management, and front-end discounts, to name a few elements. Other factors that need be considered include partner training, skill development, service support, streamlining the onboarding process, providing the appropriate sales and marketing materials, and priming the sales lead pipeline to track and report progress.” 

For Zscaler, partners facilitate over 95 percent of its transactions    

Foad Farrokhnia      
Vice President of Channels & Alliances, Asia Pacific & Japan - Zscaler    

“The Zscaler Partner Program equips partners with the tools, resources, and support needed to expand their offerings, increase their market reach, and grow their revenue.   
Zscaler partner program aims to drive positive business outcomes for partners across all categories. At Zscaler, our partners are integral to our business, facilitating over 95 percent of our transactions. Our diverse partner network includes value-added resellers, system integrators, consulting and advisory partners as well as key service providers. Our sales team works closely with these partners throughout the entire customer journey, from prospecting to deployment and client support. This collaborative approach with our partner ecosystem is further evidenced by Zscaler's remarkable net promoter score, exceeding 70, far surpassing the industry average of 30 for SaaS companies. Zscaler and our partner ecosystem are committed to delivering cutting-edge cloud security and network transformation solutions that empower our customers to focus on innovation and business growth.  
Open and transparent communication is a cornerstone of our partnership approach. We recognize the important role it plays in ensuring successful collaboration and we have established a robust framework to facilitate this process. Our partners benefit from access to up-to-date information, cutting-edge tools, and a wealth of marketing resources. Additionally, we communicate the aforementioned information to our partners through regular global newsletters and quarterly all-hands meetings with them. Zscaler also has a special “Partner Preview” program that gives our partners a sneak peek into milestone product launches.”

Tenable committed to collaborating with leading security resellers and ecosystem partners 

Kartik Shahani    
Country Manager - Tenable India   

“Channel partners play a very important role in Tenable’s goal to help organisations of all sizes reduce their cyber risk. As a 100% channel-centric business, the channel is of utmost importance to Tenable, and we are committed to collaborating with leading security technology resellers, distributors and ecosystem partners in India and globally.  
The Tenable Assure partner program is designed to make it easier than ever for our partners to build and deliver innovative solutions that are unique to our customers’ problems. The program eliminates partner levels and fees to create a self-service capability for building integrations with Tenable solutions. Tenable has a rich ecosystem with over 125 security and IT operations technology partners and more than 250 unique product integrations designed to enrich data, enhance visibility, automate workflows and improve overall security posture. Tenable’s Technology Ecosystem program provides a variety of technical, sales and marketing benefits to fuel partners’ go-to-market strategies, such as social media support, joint webinar opportunities, thought leadership blog opportunities, logo listing on the Tenable Technology Partner site, access to the Tenable Assure referral program and more. In addition, Tenable has always provided its technology partners with use of its APIs free of charge, eliminating any budgetary constraints or headaches. Tenable also supplies partners with developer quick-start guides, development tools and support, free developer access and a clearly-defined validation process enabling engineering teams to efficiently and effectively create integrations that meet market demands.” 

Establishing trust between Elastic and its partner is what sets the brand apart   

Andrew Habgood    
VP of Channels and Alliances – Elastic   

“Elastic is committed to providing the best service and support for our customers on their journey; this happens when we have partners building successful businesses around Elastic. In the APJ region, our partner program has become a critical component of our go-to-market (GTM) strategy and we are making significant investments on many fronts.  We firmly believe that our growth will be with and through our partner ecosystem. 
Establishing trust between us and our partner ecosystem is key. This Includes frequent and open communication between both parties, and partner engagement at all levels. At Elastic, our partner engagement extends beyond the partner team and this involves and includes many different levels and teams ranging from our senior leadership, sales, solutions architecture, customer success, services, and marketing teams.  
To ensure that we deliver the best results for our customers, partners are brought into conversations early on during joint account planning or discovery workshop sessions to align on customer expectations and requirements. And to foster open communication, we engage in regular partner meetings and business review sessions to ensure that our partners and teams are aligned with our strategy to deliver the best results for our customers. Sharing feedback with our partners on why customers love and use Elastic, and learning from our partners the challenges customers are facing is also important so we can uncover new areas of opportunity together. Our partner portal is an important source of engagement and communication allowing partners to access all of the latest resources.”  

Partners enjoy a productive, predictable, and profitable relationship with Fortinet     

Vivek Srivastava     
Country Manager, India & SAARC, Fortinet      

“Fortinet Engage Partner Program is the foundation of our business model and has a singular goal for our partners – to provide a valuable, flexible platform to build a profitable and highly-differentiated security practice that leverages the industry’s best solutions to drive customer success.   
Engagement – Partners choose the kind of expertise they want to develop and the benefits that comes with the specialization, so that they have more control over their business success with Fortinet.  
Business Model – Partner can choose to engage with us in any or all of our business models Integrator, MSSP, or Cloud. Each one has its own benefits that will help partners grow that segment of their business.  
Specializations – Engage 2.0 sets partners up for success with a path to expertise for the solutions that are essential in today’s cybersecurity environment. Select and above partners are eligible to specialize in SD-WAN, Adaptive Cloud Security, Data Center, LAN Edge and SD-Branch, Zero Trust Access, Operational Technology, and Security Operations.  
Fortinet is 100% committed to the Channel. We have no direct sales team, and we offer sustained sales, marketing, and executive support so partner can grow a productive, predictable, and profitable relationships with us. We conduct annual and regional partner events to engage and update partners periodically on our technology and services. Fortinet hosted over 200 partners from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Maldives at the Fortinet annual SAARC Partner Sync Conference at Dubai earlier this month.”

Versa Networks believes in building a relationship of trust with partners  

Venkata SR Datla   
Channel Sales Head – India & SAARC, Versa Networks      

“For growth of any business, right partners are extremely important as they become the extended team to take the products to market. They also help implement the solutions properly apart from giving the customers required support post sales.   

When it comes to partners, we are very transparent with our partners as trust is the most important factor in doing business together. We follow deal registration and ensure that once we commit an opportunity to the partner, we win or lose with them only.   

Also, we do have fortnightly review calls with our partners wherein we discuss if there are any issues and resolve them there and then. Currently we don’t have backend programs for our partners but we run incentive programs for our partner sales and technical teams time to time.   

The success of partner program shows the value both partner and Versa Networks bring to each other. Both of us add value in the association. The other factor of measurement is the trust and working together for a longer time which makes the relationship stronger.” 

CommScope caters to a new breed of digitally-savvy customers with the right set of partners

Kalyan Deep Ray     
National Channel Manager, Enterprise Sales, India & SAARC - CommScope    

“At CommScope, we believe that a strong collaboration with our partners is the best way to bring essential solutions to the forefront of an evolving Indian market and for a new breed of digitally savvy customers. The PartnerPRO Network forms the foundation of this association by featuring an exclusive global network of experts designed to help partners discover new revenue opportunities. The network consists of CommScope-authorized local distributors, solution providers, consultants and alliance partners that are trained to provide local insights, which puts our high-performance solutions to work. Extensive guidance and access to resources for partners are also included as part of the PartnerPRO program, to elevate their marketing and technical expertise, and build trusted and mutually profitable relationships.  
In response to shifting business models, in 2022 we launched our RUCKUS BIG DOGS Partner Program which includes a new middle tiering that allows a wider range of local partners access to market development funds and unique specializations in our industry-leading wireless networking technologies. The program also includes updated marketing tools and additional ways to attract, convert and retain customers, and an improved offering that makes it easier for top performing partners to earn rebates on a recurring basis. CommScope’s partner program and initiatives equip the channel ecosystem with best-in-class technology, robust sales enablement, and marketing support to more than 10,000 partners worldwide, including India. We used a modular approach while creating our partner programme to ensure that we address the business models and customer demands of our partners.”