August’s Channel Program Changes

Some of the biggest channel-program announcements come at Channel Partners shows. And last month was no different.

Among Verizon’s news at Channel Partners Evolution: It’s increasing MDFs for SD-WAN sales. Cox Business made the biggest splash among cable companies with the relaunch of its channel program. And a handful of smaller companies debuted their very first partner programs.

We also introduced you to the exciting things Google Fiber is beginning to do in the channel.

But not all of the channel-program changes worth noting came out of Evolution; our one-stop roundup wraps them all up in a tidy bow.

Missed July’s big channel changes? Find those here.

Follow senior online managing editor Craig Galbraith on Twitter.

In conjunction with Channel Partners Evolution, Verizon Enterprise Solutions announced three initiatives geared toward helping its partners continue transforming in a digital world.

First, The Alliance Partners, which includes 17 members and represents about $1 billion in business, is now a Verizon Platinum partner.

Second, Verizon added an SD-WAN incremental market development fund (MDF) budget for its partners.

“Bring us their plans on how they’d like to go to market and we’ll help them,” said Verizon channel chief Janet Schijns. “We have training, we have all the assets they would need; we’re going to help them in the fourth quarter to go out and attack for SD-WAN.”

And third, Verizon is launching marketing benefits to help partners recruit millennials.

Read more about Verizon’s three key initiatives here.

We caught up with Cox Business at Channel Partners Evolution to learn about how the cableco is realigning and enhanced its Agent Program to provide a more consistent experience for agents and master agents across all markets.

This past summer, Sandler Partners announced that it would become one of Cox’s first master agents in the relaunched program. This partnership will allow Sandler’s more than 3,400 technology sales partners, agents, VARs and MSPs to sell Cox Business services in multiple markets.

Read more about what John Muscarella, Cox Business’ director of sales channels and programs, told us about the program.

Google Fiber is one of those names you’ll be hearing more of in the channel over the next few years.

The Silicon Valley giant told us at Channel Partners Evolution that is exploring opportunities to team up with partners to support its growing fiber business.

Google Fiber launched in August in Atlanta, joining a handful of cities where its Internet connectivity is available to businesses: Provo, Utah; Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Charlotte, North Carolina. Google Fiber is targeting SMBs that have been underserved, said Aaron Withrow, channel partner manager. The company serves everything from tiny to midsize businesses.

Google Fiber made its first appearance at a Channel Partners event last month and made its pitch to attendees.

To help partners learn how to rethink and conduct business today and in the future, as well as overcome challenges along the way, Cisco put together resources, tools and programs — and is rolling them out to help its solution providers.

A couple of programs – the Accelerating Cisco Ecosystem Sales (ACES) framework for resellers and Partner Connection Events – exemplify Cisco initiatives. Additionally, Cisco has put together an acceleration team, led by Denny Trevett, vice president, ecosystem acceleration for the global partner organization, which officially rolled out this fiscal quarter.

The ACES framework is designed to help partners engage together in comprehensive deals and includes tools to help with things such as account planning and selection; and Partner Connection Events, a Shark Tank-like event where vendor or ISV partners get to talk about their solutions and Cisco drives engagement with resellers.

This is where to learn more about Cisco’s new tools and resources for partners.

In June, Dell announced it was selling its software division, including Quest Software and its SonicWALL security business, to a pair of private-equity firms.

The enhanced partner program, which launches at the end of September, is open to all network security partners, and is aimed at reinforcing their roles as trusted security advisors and broadening their security practices. The program introduces expanded technical assistance and a new sales accreditation program with online learning tools and trainings on the SonicWALL portfolio.

Read more about it here.

Ooma, a smart communications platform for small businesses and consumers, launched its new Office Partner Program.

VARs can earn commission, residual and product margin by promoting and selling the company’s Ooma Office small business phone system. Ooma also is introducing an affiliate program that pays commission to partners for sales leads that ultimately result in new Ooma Office customers.

Tim Sullivan, Ooma’s vice president of sales, tells Channel Partners his company has worked with partners on an individual basis, “but we never really established or focused a big outreach on recruiting partners, MSPs, etc.”

Read more about Ooma’s plans.

BullsEye Telecom said at Channel Partners Evolution that it’s changing its channel program to address marketplace needs and strengthen its products and services.

The company moved to improve its back-office support by implementing dedicated resources for partners, enhancing its quoting tools, marketing support and field sales support.

Read BullsEye’s full announcement.

Siemplify launched its Nucleus Channel Partner Program to sell more of its ThreatNexus security operations platform by making it available to partners and their customers nationally

As part of the launch, Siemplify also announced multiple partnerships with security channel partners, including INNO4, SeeGee Technologies, RKON and Gotham Technology Group.

Read more about Siemplify’s plans.

SD-WAN startup CloudGenix announced the global CloudGenix Partner Program to represent its channel-led, go-to-market strategy.

Partners that sign up with CloudGenix can expect robust enablement such as training, sharing sales leads and going to market jointly, the company said. The vendor also has created an SD-WAN Assessment Program that’s delivered by the partner to the customer using the CloudGenix product.

Read more about CloudGenix here.

SessionM launched its first channel program and will be working with a variety of partner types as its customer base increases.

A mobile-first customer engagement and loyalty technology provider, SessionM serves as a technical bridge between a company’s CRM database and its marketing stack. Its SaaS platform gathers customer behaviors across all channels, appends the data to each individual’s profile as it happens, and triggers personalized responses through a real-time rules engine.

The global program is focused on three types of partnerships: consulting/implementation partners largely comprised of digital agencies and SIs; technology partners like Adobe, Salesforce, Cisco and IBM; and VAR/OEM partnerships.

Security provider Imperva, a web application security provider, introduced enhancements to its PartnerSphere Channel Program.

Karl Soderlund, vice president of worldwide channels and alliances, said flexible licensing includes perpetual, SaaS and subscription-based options. Areas of program improvement include higher deal-registration margins, an expanded enablement program and new marketing programs.

Editor in chief Lorna Garey detailed the enhancements in one of her weekly wrap-ups.

ChatWork, a global business chat app, launched its first partner program to help partners capitalize on its “goldmine of leads.”

The Global Partner Program will support resellers and VARs by providing them with tools and incentives to better use and sell ChatWork products. The company’s app helps more than 100,000 businesses across 205 countries and regions communicate, collaborate and increase productivity in the workplace.

Read more about ChatWork here.