Nutanix says fresh programme will benefit more partners

Nutanix has rolled out changes to its partner program to reflect its transition to a multicloud company, with an expectation it will benefit more of its partners, “not only the largest ones who bring in the most revenue”.

Andy Brewerton, director, channels Western Europe and Africa at Nutanix, said the vendor wanted “to make sure we’re providing the correct tools based on the partner, not solely based on a specific, unified vision we have for every single partner.”

Nutanix has launched a new ‘channel charter’, called Power to the Partner, which bases partner rewards on their investment in Nutanix rather than solely on revenue targets.

The firm has also replaced its partner tiers with a new set of categories, with their status calculated on the number of deals they close and the depth of their Nutanix skills rather than revenue.

“Since growing, we’ve taken a closer look out our previous training roadmap and aligned it more to how we want to see partners sell in the market,” said Brewerton.

 “We also want to make sure that every partner, no matter the size can thrive with Nutanix. By changing our focus to number of deals and certifications, we are able to provide support to partners of all sizes, not only the largest ones who bring in the most revenue.”

Pioneer Partner is an entry level tier where partners can gain initial skills in Nutanix, while Scaler Partners are those firms developing solutions around Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS software with certified staff and deals.

Master Partner is the highest accreditation, where the partner closes the most deals and holds the most certifications, and is focused on selling Nutanix’s core HCI products as well as new ones such as Flow, Era and Beam.

Brewerton said Nutanix will automatically transfer partners into the appropriate tier for the new programme, “which will be based on what they’ve achieved with us to-date.”

He said: “We will ensure that each partner is in the right level from the start, and that they continue to receive the marketing and enablement tools needed for their specific business.”

Nutanix is also introducing new marketing tools, training and certification as part of a ‘Land, Adopt, Expand and Renew’ strategy. These include demand-generation platforms and tools to help with acquisition of new customers, resources for partners to run Nutanix demos, Sizer, TCO/ROI, and Xtract tools aid implementations, and training for products such as Beam, Calm, Flow, Era.

“As Nutanix expands its capabilities to be an enterprise cloud operating system company, we want our charter to provide our partners with the right tools for sales and marketing, based on their specific needs,” said Brewerton.