Each year, we bring you the details on hundreds of vendor partner programs in our Partner Programs Guide (coming March 29). Of those, a few get our five-star award, based on their commitment to the channel, breadth of program offerings and services offered to their partners. What follows is the third entry in our listing of the five-star partner program winners for 2010. You'll find information about each program, their goals for recruiting solution providers in 2010, and the technology markets they serve.

Name of channel program: IBM PartnerWorld

Channel Program Manager: Mike Gerentine

Year this program was established: 1999

Market Segments Served: Business Productivity Software
Components
Networking
Personal Computing
Security
Servers
Services
Software Infrastructure
Storage
Cloud Computing

Number of partners, North America: 36,000

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 0%

Name of channel program: IBM XIV Storage Channel Program

Channel Program Manager: Michael McClurg

Year this program was established: 2009

Market Segments Served: Storage

Number of partners, North America: 179

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 50%

Name of channel program: PartnerSphere

Channel Program Manager: Jane Goh

Year this program was established: 2008

Market Segments Served: Security

Number of partners, North America: 123

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 10%

Name of channel program: InMage Parnter Advantage Program

Channel Program Manager: Christian Stack

Year this program was established: 2008

Market Segments Served: Software Infrastructure

Number of partners, North America: 120

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 20%

Name of channel program: Intel Channel Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Zsuzsanna Winston

Year this program was established: 1997

Market Segments Served: Components
Personal Computing
Servers
Storage

Number of partners, North America: 25,000

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: N/A

Name of channel program: IronKey Elite Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: May Mitchell

Year this program was established: 2008

Market Segments Served: Security
Software Infrastructure
Storage

Number of partners, North America: 200

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 25%

Name of channel program: Preferred Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Phil Crocker

Year this program was established: 2009

Market Segments Served: Storage

Number of partners, North America: 100

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: N/A

Name of channel program: Juniper Networks J-Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Karen Ray

Year this program was established: 2004

Market Segments Served: Networking
Security
Services
Software Infrastructure

Number of partners, North America: 3,187

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 10%

Name of channel program: Green Team Channel Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Tom Fitzpatrick

Year this program was established: 2009

Market Segments Served: Security

Number of partners, North America: 1,100

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 25%

Name of channel program: Technology Revenue Success (TRS) Program

Channel Program Manager: Stephen Weinberg

Year this program was established: 1991

Market Segments Served: Business Productivity Software
Components
Networking
Peripherals
Personal Computing
Security
Servers
Services
Software Infrastructure
Storage

Number of partners, North America: 900

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 20%

Name of channel program: Lenovo Partner Network

Channel Program Manager: Alan Andrade

Year this program was established: 2005

Market Segments Served: Peripherals
Personal Computing
Servers
Services

Number of partners, North America: 1

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 20%

Name of channel program: Level 3 Business Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Craig Schlagbaum

Year this program was established: 2006

Market Segments Served: Networking
Services

Number of partners, North America: 100

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 5%

Name of channel program: Level Platforms Certified Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Rob Rae

Year this program was established: 2005

Market Segments Served: Business Productivity Software
Components
Networking
Peripherals
Personal Computing
Security
Servers
Services
Software Infrastructure
Storage
Cloud Computing

Number of partners, North America: 2,800

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 50%

Name of channel program: Partner Network

Channel Program Manager: Bob Hornsby

Year this program was established: 2002

Market Segments Served: Security
Cloud Computing

Number of partners, North America: 140

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 15%

Name of channel program: M86 PartnerFocus

Channel Program Manager: Dianna Ho

Year this program was established: 2006

Market Segments Served: Security

Number of partners, North America: 265

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 10%

Name of channel program: McAfee SecurityAlliance Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Donna St John

Year this program was established: 2004

Market Segments Served: Security
Services
Cloud Computing

Number of partners, North America: 5,000

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 10%

Name of channel program: Microsoft Partner Network

Channel Program Manager: Julie Bennani

Year this program was established: 2003

Market Segments Served: Business Productivity Software
Networking
Personal Computing
Security
Services
Software Infrastructure
Storage
Cloud Computing

Number of partners, North America: 130,000

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 5%

Name of channel program: Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions Channel Program

Channel Program Manager: Kathy Damiani

Year this program was established: 2003

Market Segments Served: Networking
Peripherals
Personal Computing
Security
Services
Software Infrastructure

Number of partners, North America: 3,500

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 5%

Name of channel program: N-able Technologies Channel Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Kevin Kirkpatrick

Year this program was established: 2001

Market Segments Served: Business Productivity Software
Networking
Security
Services
Software Infrastructure
Cloud Computing

Number of partners, North America: 1,700

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 35%

Name of channel program: NComputing Channel Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Dana Christensen

Year this program was established: 2007

Market Segments Served: Networking
Personal Computing
Servers
Software Infrastructure
Cloud Computing

Number of partners, North America: 60

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 25%

Name of channel program: NEC Partner Net

Channel Program Manager: Ashley Flaska

Year this program was established: 2008

Market Segments Served: Components
Peripherals
Services

Number of partners, North America: 7,150

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 25%

Name of channel program: NetApp Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Mark Davied

Year this program was established: 2002

Market Segments Served: Security
Servers
Services
Storage
Cloud Computing

Number of partners, North America: 1,200

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 8%

Name of channel program: Powershift Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Marcus Sarmento

Year this program was established: 2003

Market Segments Served: Networking
Security
Storage
Cloud Computing

Number of partners, North America: 16,000

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 5%

NitroSecurity

Name of channel program: NitroConnect Partner Program

Channel Program Manager: Kevin Norr

Year this program was established: 2008

Market Segments Served: Security

Number of partners, North America: 22

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: 20%

Name of channel program: Novell PartnerNet

Channel Program Manager: Martin Bawden

Year this program was established: 1994

Market Segments Served: Business Productivity Software
Security
Software Infrastructure
Storage
Cloud Computing

Number of partners, North America: 3,500

Percentage increase in partner base planned for 2010: N/A