EMC shares first details of new Business Partner Programme

EMC has gone public with official details of its new Business Partner Programme, the long-anticipated replacement for its old Velocity scheme.

The storage kingpin first revealed it was ditching the Velocity programme back in May 2013, when SVP of global channel sales Gregg Ambulos told partners attending EMC World 2013 that the end was nigh.

But although it has taken close to eight months for EMC to put together its new programme, UK channel director Terry Beale was quick to refute the idea that the lengthy process had served to create uncertainty among partners over their future.

Speaking to MicroScope, Beale said that if anything, giving the channel more information at the very beginning of the process had helped them adapt and react to the changes, and cemented EMC’s desire to be a more predictable company to deal with.

“You have to create predictability because they are creating their businesses around and investing in EMC,” he said.

The logic behind phasing out the Velocity programme was sound, explained Beale, because the old programme did not account for changes in the market, and the evolution and diversification of EMC’s partner base, with factors such as the growth of the cloud and changes to RSA's channel engagement painting a complex picture.

“It was confusing for us, let alone the channel,” said Beale.

The new programme will also tighten and clarify interactions between EMC’s direct touch salespeople and the channel following its 2012 decision to start serving more of its direct accounts through the channel, and account for growing numbers of cloud providers deciding to get into product resale, a trend Beale said would accelerate this year as service providers look to better meet customer requirements.

For 2014 in general, Beale said he expected to see “supercharged” growth for partners based on what was achieved last year.

“We have so many new product areas to add value around, we’ve doubled the number of products going through the channel, and partners will lose out if they don’t grab hold of that,” he said.

More explicit details of qualification criteria for the different programme tiers, rebates and partner compensation models within the Business Partner Programme will be made public over the course of the next few months.