Verizon Eyes Government Agencies with Public Sector Program

Verizon Enterprise Solutions (VZ) announced it is expanding the Verizon Partner Program into the public sector, which will allow channel partners to offer Verizon’s full suite of products and services in federal, state, local and education markets.

The latest addition to Verizon’s partner program promises to introduce the company’s cloud, mobility, Internet of Things and networking solutions to government and education market customers, marking the first time these solutions will be available to the public sector.

The initiative will be led by former Symantec and VMware executive Alex Hart, responsible for managing and driving Verizon sales to government agencies.

“I have gained considerable insight into the public sector channel in my prior leadership roles as well as developed strong executive relationships in the partner community,” said Hart, in an email. “My goal is to build a channel ecosystem where Verizon can put its expertise and technical capabilities to work with our partners to solve our customers’ business issues. This is when we truly will be able to make a difference.”

Virginia-based IT solutions provider Carahsoft is the first solution provider to sign on as a public sector channel provider, with additional partners expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

The public sector program includes the same tiered benefit structure established last year for the mainline partner program, with resellers stacked into Agent, Resale and Sell With categories depending on their level of commitment. Partners will also have access to training and certification programs and the Verizon Partner Portal to manage their businesses.

“With a focus on growth, we are expanding our highly successful channel program to the public sector,” said Adam Famularo, vice president of Global Channels for Verizon Enterprise Solutions, in a statement. “As the largest communications provider to the U.S. federal government, we know there is huge demand for our services and we can best fulfill this need through our Verizon Partner Program.”

The launch of the public sector initiative is the most recent in a string of updates to the Verizon Partner Program over the past several months, including the launch of the Partner Advantage Program, which allows new members to join at a comparable tier level they have earned with competing companies.

Verizon also expanded its channel program into the European market for the first time last year as it looks to gain traction in markets outside of the United States.