Juniper Outlines New Partnering For Business Growth Program

Juniper Networks revamped its partner program with increased discounts, incentives and MDF (Market Development Funds).

Juniper's new Partnering for Business Growth program raised discounts for Elite level partners by almost 13 percent to 45 percent, compared to 40 percent under the previous program. The discount for select partners increased 14 percent to 40 percent, compared to 35 percent. The program also extends the MDF planning window from three to six months, with additional marketing funding available.

Jeary Beals, partner development manager at Myriad Supply, a New York-based solution provider and Juniper Elite partner, said better MDF together with an extended planning window will increase ROI for Myriad Supply.

"Extending the window out to six months is really a great benefit for us; that allows us to better prepare," said Beals. "Being able to get that MDF investment and plug it back into the business has helped us double our Juniper business year over year over in the last three years.."

Juniper also is streamlining its product authorization requirements from seven to three -- routing, switching and security. In addition, the company is also consolidating partner levels from four to three and eliminating sales certification requirements.

Beals said streamlining the process is going to enable engineers to better aid customers.

"Our engineers are interested in being competent and providing mind share to our clients about Juniper's offerings, not necessarily sitting and taking exam after exam to prove they know what they're worth," said Beals.

Matt Hurley, Juniper corporate vice president, global partner and field marketing, said these changes will better position partners for fast growth

"We're striving to make it easier to do business with us as a company," he told CRN. "We want to be known in the marketplace around 'partnering for business growth.' … Our goal is to give our partners more time to make money with more tools and resources."

Consolidating Juniper's Champions, Services and Distribution programs into a single offering will dramatically simplify the program for partners, said David Bankemper, senior director of worldwide channel programs for Juniper.

"We're going to be incenting and rewarding both the partner reps in the field for doing the selling, as well as the ownership groups and the partners themselves for keeping focused and driving the net new business for us," he said.

[Related: New Juniper CEO Lays Out Security Product Road Map]

Jason Gress, co-founder and president of solution provider InterVision Systems Technologies, a Juniper partner, said the new program clarifies partner qualifications and benefits, which could attract new partners.

"These changes greatly simplify the program and are good for both established Juniper partners and new partners," said Gress. "I'm also excited to see Juniper renew investment in the cloud and security, two areas that align well with our focus on the software-defined data center in 2015."

NEXT: Juniper's Security Focus

Last week, Juniper reported earnings for its fourth quarter, taking an $850 million "noncash goodwill impairment charge" attributed to poor performance of its security business.

New Juniper CEO Rami Rahim said the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company will be releasing an "innovative" and "enhanced" product line later this year geared toward boosting security.

Hurley said the new partner program will have incentives tied directly to security, although specifics will not be released until the product line is launched.

"As we release those products, Partnering for Business Growth will give us the ability to focus exactly on where we think their lift and focus can be and hone in on the exact partners and partner types that we think can get us the quickest revenue to market."

PUBLISHED FEB. 3, 2015