Sun Recruiting For Sun One iForce Program

Sun is negotiating contracts for a program, dubbed iForce Partner Program,Sun ONE Specialty, according to Sun partners familiar with the effort.

Sun executives alluded to the program in April but only recently did it share details with solution providers, the partners said.

The program has three Specialty levels: Foundation, Premier and Elite. As with Sun's Storage Elite program, high-level partners can receive rebates on Sun software sales, according to Sun documents examined by CRN.

Premier and Elite partners are eligible for rebates, but Elite partners will receive more because their investment in Sun will be greater, said Barry Jones, director of Sun ONE product marketing at Sun.

Jones declined to disclose specific rebate percentages. However, CRN reported that the Storage Elite program, a similar specialization effort, gives solution providers a 3 percent rebate on Sun purchases if 25 percent are storage-related (CRN, Aug. 19).

Jones said Sun has signed about 350 North American Foundation partners for the Sun ONE program and expects it will have 35 to 50 partners at the Premier and Elite levels.

All Sun ONE Specialty partners will receive sales training as well as marketing resources for Sun ONE products, according to Sun documents.

Rob Mock, CEO of Detroit-based solution provider Dewpoint and president of the Sun ONE VAR Council, said the new program is part of Sun's commitment to use partners as much as possible to sell its Sun ONE software line. "Some people are getting some new channel religion" from Sun, he said. At a recent Sun ONE VAR Council meeting, Sun executives emphasized partner loyalty, Mock said.

Sun has been promoting Sun ONE software heavily since the July appointment of Jonathan Schwartz as executive vice president of software. Sun recently changed its sales compensation model to encourage its sales force to sell more software (CRN, Aug. 26).