Neat, a video devices company founded in collaboration with Zoom, has launched its first global partner program.

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan and Neat founder OJ Winge launched the company at last year’s Zoomtopia. It provides video devices for Zoom meetings.

Hellene Garcia is Neat’s head of global commercials. She said Neat was 100% direct sales before the debut of the partner program.

Neat’s Hellene Garcia

“The Neat Global Partner Program complements the existing direct sales model, to provide Zoom customers greater choice and flexibility in the buying process,” she said. “Although Neat just launched the program, there are some customers who have made purchases of Neat devices through their channel partner of choice. All of Neat’s partners are existing Zoom partners with extensive knowledge of Zoom’s platform and all of the Zoom Rooms hardware solutions available. In some situations, the channel partner made a recommendation of Neat devices to their customers as they felt it was the best solution for the deployment. And it was in spite of any formal relationship between the channel partner and Neat.”

Selected Partners

This new program debuts with more than 20 carefully selected partners. Each was chosen for their video and collaboration expertise, and a focus on supporting Zoom customers and their specific needs.

With these partners, Neat expands its global reach to support customers across North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific.

The Neat partner program offers two levels of participation. The entry level category is the Neat referral partner. The partner buys systems from Neat, and maintains the direct relationship with the customer. There are no sales targets or demo equipment requirements.

The more advanced category is the Neat reseller partner. Partners at this level join by invitation only. They are existing Zoom partners that have worked extensively with Zoom. They get the highest level of benefits and sales support. That includes demand-generation tools, discounted demo equipment, and sales and technical training.

“Neat was very deliberate in the timing of this new program,” Garcia said. “Over the last year, Neat has focused on understanding and responding to the needs of Zoom customers. Through that experience, Neat has found that the convenience and support of a channel partner is key for many of Zoom’s growing customer base, particularly in larger enterprises and specific verticals.”

The Rise of Video

Over the past year, video has become a way of life, Garcia said. And Neat and Zoom have been adopted by a range of different types of customers.

“With that in mind, now is the right time for Neat to work with our carefully selected partners to support Zoom customers along the entire customer journey,” she said.

Neat considered partner needs when building the program, Garcia said.

“The Neat team has a long history in the video space,” she said. “So we’ve worked with many of these partners over the years in previous roles. We understand the unique needs of partners working in the video conferencing space. And we designed this program to support partners and make it easy for them to deliver an exceptional video experience to their customers. Additionally, we recognized the need for a simple, streamlined program that makes it easy for partners to work with Neat. So our program is supremely straightforward.”

Neat is Zoom’s only investment in a hardware solution to date. Moreover, Neat built its products to work with Zoom.

“We’ve designed devices that are absolutely simple to use and deliver the best possible Zoom experience,” Garcia said.