Citrix Updates Channel Program To Incentivize Partners To Attack The Mid-Market

As it navigates an epic modernization of its pioneering software virtualization business, Citrix Systems implemented structural changes to its channel program Wednesday designed to further incentivize partners to find new customers.

The program updates are particularly meant to reward partners that win accounts among mid-market companies, which the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based developer sees as a major vector of strategic growth in the coming years, and a market partners are essential to penetrate, said Kimberly Martin, Citrix' vice president of partner strategy and sales.

"We want our partners hunting in the mid-market for new opportunities," Martin told CRN. "Rather than just the co-sell piece, this is going to help motivate them and offset the expense to identify opportunities."

[Related: Citrix Retiring 'High Touch' Account Restrictions That Were Panned By Partners]

Citrix is introducing a seven percent upfront discount for resellers in the Citrix Solution Advisors (CSA) program, as well as for systems integrators and ISVs that bring in first-time customers through the Net New Partner Sourced Program, which takes effect on May 9.

At the same time, the company is decreasing its back-end resale margins in its Citrix Advisor Rewards (CAR) program by 2 percent.

The new incentive structure delineates two key sales functions: identifying and qualifying opportunities, and performing solution-selling activities.

On that first front, to drive demand generation in the mid-market, Citrix will introduce a Strategic Development Fund in July for its CSA partners and distributors.

That funding source will replace the marketing development fund that had supported partners individually, encouraging a more collaborative approach and driving down the cost of marketing to the mid-market, Martin said.

The CEO of one Citrix partner, Entisys Solutions, reacted positively to the changes.

Mike Strohl told CRN that upon first impression of the program, he sees the updates driving profitability for Entisys, based in Concord, Calif., through the kind of mid-market deals Citrix wants its partners to target.

"The combination of investment in deeper strategic funds for business development and the upfront additional margin is strong enough to have my attention already and will translate to focused behavior in our organization," Strohl said.

Martin told CRN that partners will be asked to make proposals to access funding from a pool, "allowing us to meet goals to individual market segments and activities tied to ROI."

At the request of partners, Citrix said it's also updating the CAR program to reward solution-selling activities such as product demos, proofs of concept and deployment planning.

To make the process more objective and predictable, Citrix will define those activities and make the incentive registration process easier and faster, while enabling partners to apply for several incentive programs at the same time. To make it easier to do business with Citrix, the company is implementing greater visibility into the CAR validation process and tracking of registration incentives.

Citrix is also changing some rules to streamline interactions between partners and its internal sales organization across the incentive registration lifecycle.

Martin said Citrix believes growth in the mid-market is going to be driven by its desktop virtualization products — XenApp and XenDesktop — and NetScaler, its application delivery controller.

While the front-end incentives apply to all deals, and not exclusively the mid-market, they are only eligible for customers Citrix doesn't already know about, Martin said, ruling out most large enterprises.

As for the back-end reduction of 2 percent in the CAR margins, Strohl told CRN that "it’s a matter of giving a little and getting a lot."

"This should be a big win for us. If it is not, then we failed, not Citrix," he said.