Changes

CF: When the new program launches, what will change?  

EF: For the enterprise space, we’re continuing to make sure that we’re aligned properly with our partners and the partners are still going to be just as important as ever in that space. But delineating specifically that a large portion — the vast majority of our business is 100% channel — is a key value to eliminate any doubt or any variance in anybody’s mind. Where a deal might land or who it might go through is now one uniform motion.

We have changed the customer segmentation. There will probably be fewer customers that are under  enterprise than there were in the past, where we had different flavors of enterprise, commercial and midmarket. Today, there will be two, it’s enterprise and commercial. And the number of customers in that enterprise segment will be less than it historically has been, from a Citrix perspective.

CF: How much less?

EF: Significantly less. I can’t share a definitive number, but it is a notable difference. And partners will be able to notice it. And I think they already are as we start to look at some of their accounts and talk through it.

CF: Is there a way for those partners that are working with enterprises in some way to ensure that you can deal with whatever conflict may arise there?

EF: Absolutely. And one of the key pillars in the program is really two things. One is protecting the partners that are most invested in us as a company, and are most invested in the accounts, and then really driving that focus and reward the return on investment for partners in the commercial space. One of the things that you’ll see in the new program is a deep discount for deal registrations. And there’s going to be a tremendous focus among our field sellers and our partner managers to make sure that those partners are involved early and often, in qualifying for deal regs in that the right partner is rewarded.

CF: How will that work?

EF: As an example, partners can earn up to a 16% discount, and in most cases, it will be 16% of the incremental discount for deal reg, but then no other partner can touch. They have that from a protection standpoint.