VMware, in a bid to lure more small- and medium-sized customers, recently lowered its deal registration threshold to allow more partners that target this space to tout the virtues of virtualization.
VMware's Advantage Plus deal registration program now has a minimum deal size of $6,000, down from the previous minimum of $10,000. Colleen Kapase, senior director of partner strategy at VMware, told CRN that VMware is specifically targeting organizations with between 250 and 500 employees.
"There is still a huge opportunity here in terms of the penetration of virtualization," Kapase said in an interview last week. "There are customers just dipping their toes in the water, and the deal registration changes are aimed at these types of organizations."
[Related: VMware Rolls Out Token-Based Purchasing System For Enterprises]
As VMware increases its focus on the SMB space, it is paying more attention to partner profitability, according to Kapase. VMware's vSphere Acceleration Kit, which starts at more than $17,000 for six processors and is aimed at customers with 10 servers, is a sign that VMware is serious about this space, Kapase told CRN.
VMware also raised the ceiling for Advantage Plus deals to $650,000, enabling partners in the Enterprise and Premier program tiers to reap additional rewards from larger customer engagements, Kapase said. Smaller partners with few technical resources don't get financial rewards in the program, but they do get the prestige of being the named partner in the deal.
"We think this does help profitability in deals with partners that have some technical training," she told CRN.
Last month, VMware also launched its Enterprise Purchasing Program, which lets customers buy tokens and redeem them for VMware product licenses and support and maintenance services over the course of a three-year contract. The EPP program's minimum deal size is $250,000.
Launched in 2007, VMware's Advantage Plus is currently used by between 60 and 70 percent of VMware's channel partner base, Kapase said.
PUBLISHED NOV. 21, 2012
