Channel Changes: RingCentral Upselling, Dell Partner Shift, More
See partner-impacting news from suppliers across the worlds of IT and telecom.
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Dell Technologies’ highly publicized shift to a “partner-first” model made waves last month.
The company announced that its incentives for direct sellers in its storage business would change, in order to address what an analyst called a “a latent direct sales culture lingering within Dell.” That move, which also entailed layoffs on the direct sales side, appears to represent a long-term stance Dell is making to reaffirm its committment to the channel.
Check out Christine Horton’s reporting on the matter.
Trend Micro is working to expand its base of managed security services providers (MSSPs).
The cloud and endpoint cybersecurity provider launched the new Trend Vision One for Service Providers program. The program onboards and enables partners to adopt security operations center as a service (SOCaaS) and managed detection and response (MDR).
Christine Horton wrote all about it.
A new program from D&H Distributing focuses on making outbound calls to partners to help educate them on delivering more complete technology solutions.
One D&H executive described the new technology solutions program as a “technician-to-technician, engineer-to-engineer discussion.”
In addition, the company shared that it is working to showcase more offerings around the ProAV market. It’s sharing those vendor offerings in its solutions lab in its headquarters.
Jeff O’Heir covered the D&H news.
SolarWinds expanded on the new global partner program it announced last year.
Transform Partner Program added new benefits as well as “new revenue pools.” The latter means that partners can more easily reach SolarWinds’ top tiers and related opportunities. Moreover, the IT monitoring platform provider said it is making its processes more “straightforward” for partners.
See SolarWinds’ program announcement on its website.
In a few different instances this summer we’ve seen news of increased channel friendliness accompany news of layoffs at vendors.
Take for instance Rapid7, which is “leaning heavily into a partner strategy,” according to its CEO. That insight came as the network security provider disclosed that it was laying off about 500 people. The vendor will seek to develop more co-selling opportunities and partner support resources, CEO Corey Thomas told investors.
Read more about Rapid7.
RingCentral reversed a policy that required partners to register upselling deals.
The cloud communications provider earlier this year changed its rules of engagement to say that partners needed to register deals where they were selling an upgrade of an existing RingCentral product for clients of 50 or more users.
After hearing feedback from partners, the company removed the requirement, according to senior vice president of global partner sales Zane Long. As of Aug. 31, partners get residual commisisons for all upsold products. They must, however, register those deals in order to earn a SPIFF.
“With several exciting products launching in 2023, there’s never been a better time to be a RingCentral partner. We know how important the partner’s relationship is with the end customer, and we are committed to training our partners on our latest offerings in order to give them more ways to bring value to their customers – as well as make more money for themselves. I believe the recent changes to our upsell rules of engagement give us a broader opportunity to do just that,” Long told Channel Futures.
SASE provider Cato Networks is seeing growth with solution providers (resellers) and global systems integrators.
The provider tapped Check Point alum Frank Rauch earlier this year partly because of the strong partner relationships Rauch brings to the table. And those relationships seem to be bearing fruit, as Rauch told Channel Futures that more VARs and GSIs are joining forces with Cato. They join an already strong base of technology advisors (agents), whom Rauch said Cato will continue to serve at a high level.
Rauch a gave fun, candid interview with Channel Futures, where he shared his observations from his first six months.
NetApp officially brought its Partner Sphere program to market.
The program removes specializations but now includes competencies for services and solutions. The company adds that partners who keep adding competencies will see ROI increase.
In addition, the program has moved from four-tier to three-tier and has brought all partner types under one umbrella.
Kell Teal was all over the news, doing a interview with NetApp channel leader Jenni Flinders.
Generative AI product platform provider Vectara unveiled an ecosystem program for developers, product builders and businesses of all sizes.
The company reportedly does not use tiering, but relies on the pillars of “co-innovate, co-engage and co-influence.” It does contain a division called Startup Ecosystem, which executives say will help startups and ISVs the most.
Read more about Vectara.
Crowdsec updated its partner program.
The source and collaborative cybersecurity vendor gives free training to partners in its three-tier program. It’s going after MSPs, resellers and technical partners.
Edward Gately wrote about Crowdsec as part of his Black Hat conference coverage.
You’ve heard of threat detection. What about gun detection?
That’s what ZeroEyes is doing and would like to get more channel partners doing. The vendor provides gun detection video analytics. In the meantime, it staffs an operation center that seeks to alert local law enforcement about potential mass shooters.
Seneca/Arrow alum Darren Crawford will lead ZeroEyes’ channel program, seeking to recruit security integrator partners.
Read ZeroEyes’ press release.
Cybersecurity distributor Exclusive Networks continues to make inroads in North America.
The Paris-based company teamed up with French infrastructure security specialist Thales for a global partnership. The companies have worked together in EMEA and APAC but are have expanded their agreement into North America.
Exclusive grew 49% in North America in the first half of 2023, according to the company.
Read Exclusive’s partnership news on its website.
Cybersecurity distributor Exclusive Networks continues to make inroads in North America.
The Paris-based company teamed up with French infrastructure security specialist Thales for a global partnership. The companies have worked together in EMEA and APAC but are have expanded their agreement into North America.
Exclusive grew 49% in North America in the first half of 2023, according to the company.
Read Exclusive’s partnership news on its website.
A seismic shift in the Dell partner model and a key change to RingCentral‘s rules of engagement top the latest list of program updates.
Agents, MSPs, VARs, SIs and all other types of partners watch carefully to see if vendors are showing the channel love. And in the case of influential suppliers like Dell and RingCentral, it seems like partner feedback is making an impact on policy.
Dell Partner Shift
Dell’s news sent ripples through the tech world when it said it was shifting to a partner-first model. Many mainstream news outlets paid attention to the news because Dell is making layoffs in its direct sales team to accommodate the shift. But the provider is making adjustments in direct sales compensation to ensure that its people in the storage business are incented to co-sell with partners.
In news that did not earn as much attention, RingCentral is making it easier for partners to earn compensation on upsold RingCentral products. Channel Futures has outlined that change in its monthly roundup of channel program changes.
In addition to RingCentral and Dell, many other suppliers made updates to their channel programs last month. Cato Networks’ channel leader said the SASE provider has created more balance among its partner types, and a AI-based gun detection provider – that’s right – launched a channel program.
Read about the Dell partner moves, RingCentral changes and much more of of August’s biggest news about channel programs in the 12 images above.
Also, see July’s biggest program updates in case you missed them.
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