Storage giant Datto today changed the criteria by which it doles out partner benefits, doing away with a ranking based on the amount of data a customer has in storage, in favor of a system that rewards recurring revenue.

Datto’s rebranded Global Partner Program will still feature four tiers of partner status, which until now were determined by the amount of cloud data being stored.

For example, a partner with between 10 and 25 terabytes stored would fall into the “Premier” level – the second-highest tier – qualifying that partner for marketing development funds and lead-sharing benefits not available to those in lower tiers.

Under the new system, MSPs will be slotted into one of the four renamed tiers based on the amount of monthly recurring revenue (MRR) they generate through Datto.

“We’re not just a storage company,” said Samantha Ciaccia, partner marketing manager at Datto. “We offer plenty of products and services that don’t directly involve storage.

“This allows us to reward our partners for whatever program they (sell),” she added. “MRR is a universal, easy-to-track way to measure success.”

Datto officials said the new program was developed with feedback from their MSP community.

“The Datto Global Partner Program was developed to accelerate partners’ business growth with actionable enablement programs focused on sales and marketing,” the company said in a statement. “Datto’s overarching goal of the program is to further invest in the MSP community with more training, education and resources to empower partners with the tools they need to be successful.”

Another new feature of the revamped program is access to MarketNow, a marketing automation platform, now available to partners at no cost.

The tool – designed to aid business owners, regardless of marketing knowledge – offers pre-built promotional campaigns, customizable collateral and social media content.

“We’ve always provided marketing assets,” said Sue MacGregor, director of partner marketing for Datto. “But we felt what we were missing is the execution part of that.”

“A lot of our (partners) aren’t as marketing savvy,” she added. “They might not have a platform to push marketing content out to customers.”

For more information about changes to the partner program, Datto will hold the third of three informational webinars on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. 

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