VMware is sprucing up its partner programme next year and efforts are already underway to make sure the channel is ready.
The outfit wants to see more specialisations as part of the master services programme, with partners able to gain skills in VMware Cloud on AWS Master Services Competency, network virtualisation, cloud management and automation, data centre virtualisation and desktop and mobility options.
Alanzo Blackstock, director, partner organisation (UK&I), VMware, said that there was plenty of time for partners to get ready for the launch next year. Most of the components in Partner Connect would include a great deal of continuity.
“What we are doing is making it easier for our partners to engage with us. Many of our partners are already taking their certifications to get their master services accreditations and what will happen with Partner Connect is that they will get much more reward for that investment than they do with the current programme”, he said.
He claimed that VMWare partners had welcomed the vendor’s move to unify all of its programmes with that being seen as a development that would improve simplicity.
“We have several partners that have to join multiple partner programmes, multiple certifications for those programmes and they were very siloed. So if you were on more than one programme, you had to do things twice or three times to get access to the incentives for that particular programme. That’s a pain for the partner. It gives the partner a chance to have multiple models under one programme, rather than one programme per business model.”
