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

Nectar Services has a new advanced partner designation program to prevent customers from migrating to the cloud without properly planning.

The Network Assessment Partner Program aims to helping enterprise customers identify partners that have been certified to use Nectar’s Perspective offering — design, deploy and report the results of network assessments for both cloud and on-premises UC deployments, including Microsoft Skype for Business Online.

Matt Christopher, Nectar’s vice president of customer experience, tells Channel Partners the program gives partners the ability to offer a service around network assessments. Nectar develops and deploys network monitoring and management software for the UC industry.

“It also gets partners engaged with customers early in the planning stages, which gives them more opportunity to demonstrate their value and offer services,” he said. “Because networks are not static, it gives partners an opportunity for ongoing monthly recurring revenue with active network monitoring.”

Nectar wants to teach the market that a network assessment matters, and that only with simulated traffic over the course of at least seven days can a customer fully understand the potential impact of Skype for Business on their network and vice versa, Christopher said. There is value in using a partner who understands Skype for Business, the network, and the potential impact of Skype for Business on the network, he said.{ad}

“The primary goal is to recognize partners with the skills to deliver value through network assessments, whether they are part of the Nectar portfolio or a recruiting target,” he said.

Before the deployment of hosted UC services, enterprise customers will want to confirm that network connections between their major locations are capable of supporting anticipated voice, video and collaboration traffic, Nectar said. For this type of network assessment, enterprise customers need a “trusted and comprehensive partner who understands the complexities of geographically distributed, multi-vendor UC networks, and has the assessment tools and skill sets necessary to thoroughly test the network’s ability to support the enterprise’s growing UC traffic,” it said.

The first two partners in the new program are Avanade and Modality Systems. Avanade’s capabilities include deployment models which span Office 365, private cloud, hosted and on-premises, and it has designed deployments for more than 1 million seats of Skype for Business and Lync. Modality is a specialist provider of consulting and managed services for Skype for Business.

“Simply designing and deploying an enterprise’s UC network is just a small portion of the total value these trusted and certified program partners are able to provide to their customers,” said Tom Tuttle, Nectar’s senior vice president of global UC strategy and alliances. “With the launch of our (program), we are ensuring that our partners have the necessary tools to help identify potential network issues prior to a UC deployment, thus minimizing the impact on enterprises and users moving to the cloud, such as Skype for Business.”