Partner Perspective

GTD’s Woodall was among the first NetApp partners briefed about the current and forthcoming changes. At a high level, Woodall said many, though not all of GTD’s customers, are shifting to managed services that generate ARR.

“I think it’s a realistic change in how NetApp is reflecting its go-to-market strategy with how it wants their partner community of the future to mold itself or choose to invest in what they think is important,” Woodall said. “I don’t disagree with it. There are still some details to be forthcoming, that are more specific to each partner, in how they map from the old structure to the new structure.”

In the coming weeks, Woodall said he will meet with his NetApp partner manager. At that point he hopes to understand how the company plans to map the new capabilities and specializations to GTC’s business plan.

“That will allow us to look at where do we want to invest in terms of capabilities that we may not have, or get credit and recognition for capabilities that we had that they didn’t have a way to reflect,” he said.