2013/2/5 - EMC Transforms Velocity Channel Partner Program

News Summary:

• EMC Corporation today announced significant enhancements to the EMC Velocity™ Solution Provider program that will create a simpler, more predictable, and more profitable experience for EMC channel partners globally.
• Enhancements include: a new Target Products rebate; refinements to the Velocity Specialties requirements and benefits; the integration of the EMC Isilon partner program; increased demand generation opportunities, and expanded services offerings, tools and resources.

Full Story:

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) today announced significant enhancements to the EMC^®Velocity Solution Provider partner program that will make EMC's industry-leading cloud computing and Big Data technologies and solutions available to more customers – particularly in the rapidly growing mid-market segment. With a continued emphasis on ensuring that Velocity Partners are exceptionally well prepared to sell and/or service EMC products and solutions, customers can be confident they are working with the industry's most competent solution providers to support their business requirements.

The following program changes are effective immediately:

• New Target Products Rebate for Premier and Signature Partners – Provides top Velocity partners¹ with a predictable income stream via rebates paid on sales of targeted EMC technologies that align to the company's key mid-market initiatives. Eligible products include EMC VNX^® and VNXe^® unified storage, EMC Avamar^® and EMC Data Domain^® backup and recovery solutions, and server Flash caching solution EMC VFCache^™.  This rebate is paid from the first sale and is in addition to – and can be combined with – EMC's existing performance-based Specialty² rebate.
• Changes to Velocity Specialty Requirements Focus on Fortifying Selling Capabilities
  • The program no longer requires partners to earn an implementation certification to achieve a Specialty². While EMC encourages partners to become services-enabled, removing this requirement from the reseller program now allows pure-play resellers a more direct path to achieving Velocity Specialties, where benefit opportunities accelerate. For partners who include services in their business model, EMC has strengthened its Velocity Services offerings (details below).
  • There is no longer a revenue requirement for partners to achieve a Specialty.
  • Three Specialties are now required for Signature (top tier) partners worldwide, reflecting the most advanced level of competency required of the top tier partners in positioning and selling a broad range of EMC's technologies.
• EMC Isilon Partner Program Integrated into Velocity Program – Former Isilon partners can now become eligible for Velocity benefits on other EMC products, and existing EMC resellers can become eligible to earn benefits from selling Isilon – all within the integrated Velocity program.
• More Products Eligible for Financial Benefits in Velocity Specialties – To help partners align their portfolio with the growing demand for cloud and Big Data solutions, the following products are now eligible for financial benefits within the Backup and Recovery Specialty:  EMC Mozy^® cloud backup, EMC Atmos^® object-based cloud storage platform, and EMC Centera^® content addressable storage. EMC Isilon^® scale-out network attached storage platform is also now eligible for benefits within the Consolidate Specialty.
• Amplified Demand Generation: More Market Development Funds (MDF⁾³, More Qualified Leads – EMC is doubling its investment in demand generation funds, programs, and resources to develop highly qualified opportunities for partners and accelerate revenue growth.
• Velocity Services Invests in Enhanced Tools, Offerings, and Resources to Accelerate ServicesEnablementwith Partners:
  • Expanded library of online and video-instructor-led servicestraining provides a more convenient and efficient way for partners to access EMC's industry-recognized EMC Proven Professional technical training.
  • New online labs allow partners to more efficiently and effectively hone practical implementation skills on EMC technology in a proctored virtual environment.
  • New offering in the EMC Cooperative Services portfolio provides partners EMC guidance on their solution design, as well as post-implementation review. As with all EMC Cooperative Service offerings, the partner maintains full control of the customer relationship, and has the depth of EMC expertise in the background to ensure quality implementations.

Partner Quotes:

Gregg Pruett, Senior Vice President, CompuNet, Inc.

"With the high level of flexibility and range of options EMC is providing us through the new Velocity Program, our customers will have even more access to EMC's broad portfolio of innovative products and services. There's a massive market opportunity and the enhancements EMC announced today provide us with more choices to resell and deliver services – enabling us to better focus on the growing demand for services as the market expands for cloud, Big Data, and Trusted IT environments."

Gary Alexander, CEO, AOS (Alexander Open Systems)

"Organizations' data continues to grow and they need help managing it – which is where AOS can show our value. Whether it's through product implementation or support or services, the EMC Velocity Partner Program provides tools and resources to ensure we are well equipped to be our customer's trusted advisor. Also, we're pleased with EMC's movement to place more focus on their partners and by having its direct sales force work through the partners and not around them. Furthermore, AOS supports EMC's commitment to the SMB market as this is a core focus for us."

EMC Executive Quote:

Fred Kohout, Vice President, Global Channel Marketing, EMC Corporation

"EMC's continued objective is to accelerate the customer journey to cloud computing, grapple with Big Data, and help IT departments' store, manage, protect, and analyze their most valuable asset – information. The changes we've made to the Velocity Solution Provider program are focused on helping partners optimize their offerings in these key areas so they can best support customer requirements. We want our partners to have a simple, predictable, and profitable experience with EMC. Over half our storage revenue goes through our channel partners, and our focus is on making these partners more productive. This is proof that organizations are increasingly relying on EMC Velocity Partners to help them transform their business and increase their competitive advantage in their respective markets."

Additional Resources

• Learn more about partnering with EMC
• Follow @EMCChannel and join the #EMC conversation on Twitter
• Connect with EMC via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and ECN

About EMC

EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing.  Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset — information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.

¹The EMC Velocity Solution Provider Program features four tiers (Affiliate, Affiliate Elite, Premier, and Signature) that offer increasing financial benefits and rewards as Partners complete specific training and other requirements, and move up through the tiers. 

²Velocity Specialty designations recognize partners who achieve superior competencies to architect and sell complete end-to-end solutions through EMC's advanced sales and technical training and certifications. Each Specialty is focused on a product category: Backup & Recovery Specialty (Information Protection), Consolidate Specialty (Unified Storage), and Advanced Consolidate Specialty (Enterprise Storage).

³EMC's MDF Program is designed to accelerate the development of leads for EMC Velocity Partners through the submission of MDF proposals focused on demand generation. MDF funds are awarded based on the execution of a marketing plan agreed to between the Partner and EMC. 

EMC, Velocity, VNX, VNXe, Atmos, Avamar, Data Domain, VFCache, Mozy, Centera, and Isilon are either registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined under the Federal Securities Laws. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iii) the relative and varying rates of product price and component cost declines and the volume and mixture of product and services revenues; (iv) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures and new product introductions; (v) component and product quality and availability; (vi) fluctuations in VMware, Inc.'s operating results and risks associated with trading of VMware stock; (vii) the transition to new products, the uncertainty of customer acceptance of new product offerings and rapid technological and market change; (viii) risks associated with managing the growth of our business, including risks associated with acquisitions and investments and the challenges and costs of integration, restructuring and achieving anticipated synergies; (ix) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; (x) insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; (xi) fluctuating currency exchange rates; (xii) threats and other disruptions to our secure data centers or networks; (xiii) our ability to protect our proprietary technology; (xiv) war or acts of terrorism; and (xv) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in EMC's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. EMC disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

SOURCE EMC Corporation