VMware: Partners Can Sell Services

On Monday, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based software company plans to announce a new program, the VMware Authorized Consulting (VAC) Partner Program, which will enable resellers and consultants to earn additional margins by selling VMware-certified services in addition to VMware's line of workstation and server products.

"We're opening up our services and letting our channel leverage that," said John Krystynak, VMware's VAC program manager. "Partners have sold our services before but not delivered them."

The program requires partners to pay an annual fee of $5,400 and have two VMWare-certified consultants in-house. Services margins fall between 25 percent and 35 percent per project.

VMware currently has 15 integrators registered for the VAC program and expects to have about 40 globally by the year's end, Krystynak said.

RapidApp, a solution provider in Chicago, already has nine VMware-certified consultants in the field and two physical server-to-virtual server (P2V) migration projects under way.

"I'm a big fan of the new VAC program," said Mitch Northcutt, CEO of RapidApp. "I am heavily invested in VMware training based on the demand I am seeing for services surrounding virtualization."

The VAC program goes a long way to appease channel concerns stemming from EMC's acquisition of VMware last year.

Sources said VMware negotiated to maintain its separate channel for roughly a year after the deal went through but that product and services will be open to EMC after that.

Krystynak declined to comment on that time frame, but he acknowledged that EMC will "ramp up" and eventually will sell VMware services.

"The new VMware program is a way of channeling more revenue to the VARs in order to keep them loyal and to encourage them to support the smaller accounts," said one reseller who requested anonymity.