VMware Channel VP Vows ‘Our Commitment To Our Partners Hasn’t Changed’

The changes to VMware’s reseller program were driven by the idea that more transparency into the program will help partners advance through tiers, while the more those partners focus on building capabilities, the more high-revenue deals get signed.

To that end, VMware is soon launching an online portal that will show partners details about where they stand in the program, where they need to increase performance or capabilities to move up, and it will reflect changes to the partner’s points in real time, said Tracy-Ann Palmer, vice president of partner experience, programs and distribution at VMware.

“Every organization is in it to generate revenue. Well if you don’t know what that looks like, if you don’t know where to go, then you don’t know that,” Palmer said. “We’re going to empower our partners and our channel, giving them the data they need to be successful and to drive the right priorities. Simplicity and operational ease is key. And giving them the visibility so they can see how to be successful.”

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All of this is happening as chipmaker Broadcom edges closer to aquiring the virtualization leader in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $61 billion. VMware can offer no assurances, however Palmer said the company is still independent and is executing on its promises to partners.

“We’re very confident that we’re doing the right things for our partners. I think no one knows what is going to happen with the acquisition. It may not happen at all. Our stance going forward is we are still an independent company. We’re going to continue on our commitments and priorities and execute as we planned,” Palmer said.

VMware’s program will soon have four business models – solution services, solution reseller, solutions builder, and cloud services provider -- and five tiers with ‘Pinnacle’ now considered the tier for elite partners. Through the dashboard that is being built, partners can see which business model status they’ve earned; which ones they have not earned, and what they need to do to go win that. It will define all the requirements for the partner, VMware said. It will also show partners they’re level status and how many points they’ve earned, what the next level is, and how many points they need for that, and what’s missing for them to get to that next level.

Palmer said a big part of the program will be helping partners win stickiness with their customers.

“There’s no such thing as renewal in a SaaS and subscription world,” Palmer said. “When I think about SaaS and subscription. It is an ongoing relationship and partnership with the customer to drive adoption, consumption, upsell, and renewal. If you wait 90 days to go and renew a subscription, the churn rate is significantly higher.”

Palmer said to create the new program VMware went to their top partners to see how their businesses drove profitability, and then adopted methods to incentivize that behavior among all their resellers.

Here’s more of what Palmer had to say.