Pivot3’s Channel Program Now Streamlined, Enhanced for Partners

Pivot3, the hyperconverged infrastructure vendor, is revamping its global partner program with a new tier structure and other improvements with a goal of increasing partner success and profitability.

Created to deepen the company’s relationships with its partners around the world, the redesigned program now establishes three participation tiers while also expanding product and service training. It also offers broader access to money for joint marketing efforts and to qualified sales leads.

The changes and improvements were inspired and suggested through conversations with some of the company’s oldest partners, who were asked about the changes they would like to see in the program, Bruce Milne, chief marketing officer for Pivot3, told Channel Futures.

Suggestions included driving more predictable profitability and providing more specific training for a wide range of Pivot3 sales scenarios, such as mission-critical computing packages, said Milne.

Pivot3’s Bruce Milne

“The feedback we received told us that our partners are eager to tap into the massive revenue stream that comes with video surveillance and the data analytics accompanying it,” said Milne. “They understand this is our sweet spot and with these enhancements will have the opportunity to train and be successful here. It’s important to note that security integrators have no idea how to talk to an IT audience, and IT integrators have no idea about the security requirements that come with high ingest rates of video data. We’re filling the gap with our partner program.”

By helping to train those people on both sides of the spectrum, Pivot3 can open their businesses up to large chunks of revenue they were missing out on previously, he said.

Recently, the company has seen a 17% increase in partner-led deal registrations, while also seeing a 20% increase in total revenue growth from its partners over the previous quarter, according to Milne. “We can attribute this early success to reigning in our tiering requirements. We very much used to approach this part of the program on an ad-hoc basis. This time around we’re focusing on simplicity.”

The company also is working closely with key distributors that play a large role in the success of Pivot3’s partners, he said.

“The continued expansion of our relationships with top distributors only allows Pivot3 to strengthen its go-to-market strategy and in turn cross-enable the two distinct types of partners and their markets — information technology and operational technology.”

The redesigned Pivot3 partner program introduces competencies to its requirements for authorized, select and premier tier memberships, which focus on clearly defined tiers and value-based training. The program, which was developed in collaboration with partners, aims to provide support and rewards that are above industry standards, according to the company.

“Partners will have greater eligibility for joint marketing funds through our market development fund (MDF) program,” said Milne. “The program is proposal-based and available to our premier and select partner levels.”

The proposal based-MDF will provide incremental discretionary funds to partners based on strategic proposals that align with the promotion of Pivot3 products through awareness building, lead generation, partner recruitment and education activities.

The company will also offer executive briefing centers (EBCs) to help premier and select partners invite customers and prospects to forums that showcase …

… the company’s products. The EBCs will help partners host customers in a welcoming business environment that’s equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to help them build customer relationships, accelerate the sales cycle and close deals.

“We’re going to continue the discussion with our partners in order to ensure we’re keeping our program updated to their standards, so if this means additional changes down the road then we’ll certainly make them,” said Milne.

One Pivot3 partner, Dave Dimlich, president of Florida-based VAR SD3IT, told Channel Futures that the changes in the Pivot3 partner program will be good for his company.

“Pivot3 was one of the only companies we work with that actively sought ideas from their partners to help them craft this partner program,” said Dimlich. “It is refreshing to have a company solicit advice from large and small businesses. It can be difficult for smaller companies to achieve top-partner status due to certifications and lack of available resources to take tests, etc. Pivot3 created a program that is focused on both large and small companies, letting both thrive and be successful working with their team.”

The improved program helps partners by increasing the company’s commitments to its partners, said Dimlich.

Earlier, Pivot3 was did some direct business and worked with the channel, he said.

“It is difficult to trust any OEM that is not 100% channel. We are very pleased they have rolled out a new program and are focusing on their success by supporting their partners.”

For a small business like SD3IT, the channel-program changes will give them new access to leads, marketing funds and higher margins that will all help his company to be more successful, he said.

“Collaboration is key to a successful partnership and to driving net new deals and opportunities,” said Dimlich. “By working together to drive leads and meetings it allows us to focus on what is important — spending time with the end-user customers. Pivot3 has some unique technology with their support of massive amounts of video surveillance and IoT device data as well as their ability to support HCI for applications and VDI, all in a single platform. Helping us to introduce this to clients will accelerate market adoption and sales.”