Lumen Partners to Get Bigger Payouts with New Policy Change

A change in policy next month will give bigger payouts to Lumen Technologies partners on channel-integrated deals.

Lumen is changing its channel-integrated engagement (CIE) policy to give partners more money. On Dec. 1, Lumen will cut the CIE tax rate from 30% to 15% on all new sales.

Garrett Gee is Lumen’s senior vice president of indirect sales. He said the change should drive sales opportunities for partners in conjunction with Lumen’s direct sales team.

Lumen Technologies’ Garrett Gee

“This policy change means partners will see a considerably larger share of commission on channel-integrated deals,” he said.

In July, Lumen realigned its indirect and enterprise sales organizations under the same leadership. Gee said Lumen can now pursue larger, strategic deals in tandem with its partners.

“This policy change solidifies our commitment to ensuring that both direct and indirect channels are well positioned for mutual growth,” he said. “Our channel partners are critical to our ongoing success.”

Lumen hopes the change increases sales opportunities and close rates on strategic deals, Gee said.

Zoom Delivered by Lumen

In other news, Lumen and Zoom are expanding their partnership with a new collaboration offering for businesses globally. The two companies announced their partnership in September.

Zoom Delivered by Lumen brings together Lumen’s platform with Zoom’s collaboration products and services. Lumen’s partners can offer it.

CenturyLink’s Shaun Andrews

“When the world turned to virtual meetings, Zoom turned to Lumen’s fiber network to power its best-in-class video communications platform,” said Shaun Andrews, Lumen’s chief marketing officer. “We’re happy to take this partnership a step further by combining our platforms and our strengths to create Zoom delivered by Lumen. Together, we will help keep families, businesses, schools and hospitals securely connected to the world, and thriving in the 4th industrial revolution.”

Furthermore, Zoom delivered by Lumen brings together Lumen’s embedded network security capabilities with Zoom’s built-in security features. That will protect businesses using their combined services.

“With their wide market incumbency, as well as deep expertise in the networking and UC&C space, Zoom delivered by Lumen is poised to bring our mutual clients an optimal experience that we are very excited about,” said Ryan Azus, Zoom’s chief revenue officer.

Zoom delivered by Lumen will roll out new service features and enhancements over the coming months. Those include Zoom Phone and Lumen Cloud Connect for Zoom.