Riverbed Shifts Channel Partner Program to Competency-Based Model

Riverbed Technology (RVBD) has made changes to its channel partner program to a model based on partners’ competencies, shifting away from its previous revenue-based attainment model.

Starting Jan. 6, partners will work with Riverbed under a new program structure that provides discounts based on both the depth and breadth of partners’ knowledge in Riverbed solutions, said Randy Schirman, senior vice president of Worldwide Channels at Riverbed.

“We want to reward and recognize partners who go deep as well as reward those who go wide as they provide end-to-end solutions,” he said. “We are trying to ensure satisfy all sets of partners.”

The new program abandons the company’s current four-tier revenue-based structure in favor of a three-tier competency-based structure around four areas:

Under the new structure, partners start at the authorized (basic) level. As partners become competent in at least one area, they move to the premiere level, which offers incremental discounts and backend rebates. After having achieved at least three competencies, partners move into the elite level, which includes further discounts and rebates but also includes a booking level they must maintain.

“This is a logical evolution of what we are doing coupled with the what the market is doing,” said Michele Hayes, senior director of Global Channel Strategy and Programs at Riverbed. “[We’re asking ourselves] ‘How do I align and drive the right kind of behavior in a scalable fashion?’”

The belief is the program changes will incentivize partners who sell only one or two Riverbed technologies to move deeper into that area if they don’t want to sell other Riverbed offerings. “We wanted to allow partners who had that core expertise in an area to be on a level playing field with partners who sell end-to-end solutions,” Hayes said.

Partners who choose to go deep also have the opportunity to be the partner of choice in deals over elite partners who may not have the same level of knowledge, Schirman added. “Elite partners are our uber partner of our go-to-market, but they won’t be able to take over on opportunities where there are partners that have a deeper knowledge base.”

Both Schirman and Hayes noted the company is making the changes to the partner program based on partner feedback as a result of market transitions, noting that the new structure should enable all channel partners who invest in Riverbed to enjoy the same perks no matter how much they sell.

“In programs of old—across-the-board, revenue-driven models—you could have a partner that makes heavy commitments and sells, but then say a partner that has little to no expertise stumbles across a major deal and zooms up the typical revenue-based model yet they have little to no skill set,” Schirman said. “It’s moving away from that type of model to be a more accurate level and capture.”

Riverbed has already begun the process of informing partners of the changes and is working with them to determine what level of competency they should work toward based on their past sales and other factors, Schirman said. “We look at data analytics on revenue trends and history—their average deal size, average price, etc. Then it becomes a conversation about strategy,” he said.