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Pure Storage ushers in Ambassador tier
Data player announced enhancements to its partner programme with the expansion of tiers and improvements to the tools it provides its channel
Pure Storage has unveiled a number of enhancements to its partner programme, with the emphasis on rewarding expertise and using automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate processes that enable its channel to be more competitive.
The key difference with previous iterations of the programme is the introduction at the top end of the partner tiers of the Ambassador level, on offer to those that show expertise around two of four specific areas – AI, cloud, application modernisation and cyber resilience.
Pure has been encouraging its partners to move up its tiers and gain more rewards and increased enablement tools, resulting in a more than seven-fold increase in those getting trained and certified in the past year. That progress triggered a move for more differentiation at the top end, with the resulting Ambassador level being introduced.
Geoff Greenlaw, vice-president of channel EMEA and LatAm at Pure Storage, said the changes to the programme were an “evolution not revolution”, and had been designed in response to demands from its partners.
“We will continue to evolve the programme as market dynamics shift, and what we’re seeing is really driving this evolution of the programme is that customer needs are evolving as well,” he said. “It’s not just partner needs, but the actual needs of our respective and collective customers are changing as well.”
Greenlaw said the result was the increasing need for partners to provide services and offer the customer the technologies to solve wider issues, rather than just specific point products.
“Where we’re pushing the programme towards is … more around building solutions,” he said. “Rather than a partner being a storage expert, network expert, or backup and recovery expert, partners are now having to sell the full stack of technologies. That’s really the intent of this evolution of the programme: how do we steer our partners to be far more multi-vendor solution-led.”
Moving through the tiers
Pure has been encouraging its partners to move up its tiers, and gain more rewards and increased enablement tools, resulting in a more than seven-fold increase in those getting trained and certified in the past year. That progress triggered a move for more differentiation at the top end, with the resulting Ambassador level being introduced.
Those qualifying for the Ambassador tier will need to show deep expertise around Pure, as well as another vendor in their chosen area – for example, Red Hat in application modernisation or Nvidia in AI.
“We’re asking our partners to really join the dots on the other vendors that they go to market with, to really help build solutions for our respective engines for customers,” said Greenlaw. “Ambassador comes with incremental additional rebates and more marketing development funds.”
Quotes and deal registration
Partners should also see improvements to processes around quotes, deal registration and systems that provide progress on their incentive and certification status.
“We’re now introducing ‘click to quote’ functionality,” he said. “Once the opportunity has been identified with the partner within the intelligence tool, literally click a button, and they can be provided with a budgetary quote to then go and have a direct conversation with that customer.
“Moreover, it will automatically generate a deal-registered opportunity with Pure based on that quotation. We’re eliminating a lot of the administration burden on our partners simply by providing them with proactive information to help them generate new opportunities and provide price protection on deal-registered opportunities as well.”
The introduction of a multi-vendor approach for top-tier partners got the backing of some of those Pure is expecting its partners to work with.
Kevin Kennedy, vice-president of the Global Partner Ecosystem at Red Hat, said: “At Red Hat, we believe partners are the critical multipliers that enable enterprises to modernise their infrastructure using integrated, open solutions that span applications, data and infrastructure.
“Pure Storage’s evolved partner programme reinforces that model by prioritising technical expertise and solution outcomes,” he added. “Combined with Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud platforms, this approach helps partners build and deliver scalable, resilient architectures that give customers flexibility and confidence as they modernise.”
