**Editor’s Note: Click here for a list of April’s important channel-program changes you should know.**

Private cloud startup ZeroStack on Tuesday launched a new global partner program to allow partners to deliver an “OpenStack cloud in a box” to their customers.

The program is aimed at enabling resellers and channel partners to advance and accelerate adoption of the ZeroStack Cloud Platform. Based on OpenStack, the platform is an “ultra-converged cloud solution, which provides a software-driven private cloud that offers the ease-of-use of a public cloud, coupled with complete control and security,” according to the company.

Sean Cardenas, ZeroStack’s vice president of sales and operations, tells Channel Partners his company is seeing “tremendous interest” in the program.

“We have more than 10 (partners) in the process of being onboarded and going through initial training, with five partners actively engaging prospects,” he said. “We are seeing the reseller community very keen to offer easy-to-use, private cloud products and solutions. We think this is because so many vendors are trying to demonstrate their technology, while ZeroStack delivers a platform that is workload-ready. This is a key difference in what we are doing and why partners are interested.”{ad}

The new program is a key component of ZeroStack’s overall business strategy. It was designed to support regionally strategic VARs whose commitment to their customers extend beyond selling legacy data-center infrastructure, the company said.

“We think our program has a lot of the bells and whistles that partners expect; our real leverage is our unique private cloud product that keeps our partners relevant in today’s cloud discussions,” Cardenas said. “Resellers maintain trust with their clients by showcasing new technology that solves problems. ZeroStack is the first solution of its kind to provide the benefits of private and public cloud in a single solution. So in our case, we are helping partners engage where otherwise they may be losing customers to the public cloud or who are disenfranchised with the cost and complexity of legacy private-cloud architectures. We do see partners also offering OpenStack-related point products, and we think that is great.”

If provided with the right tools, incentives and leads, the channel will “help you find customers far faster than if you try to build your own large and expansive sales force,” he said.

“You still need local salespeople and solution architects in every region to support resellers; the trick here is to ensure the channel gets your support as they bring you into accounts, which builds mutual trust and creates a win-win environment,” Cardenas said. “We are building our channel program right from the start to showcase our commitment to our partners and their role in our continued success. We are leveraging best practices we have seen success with from companies we have worked at.”

“The ZeroStack solution aligns well with our commitment to promote innovative technologies with our customers,” said George Hardy, CEO of Tangent Zero. “By combining a hyperconverged platform on-premise[s] with a self-service SaaS portal, ZeroStack has eliminated the complexity of building and managing an OpenStack cloud environment. ZeroStack’s solution allows us to provide greater value to our customers and squarely addresses the public vs. private cloud debate.”