Symantec To Partners: Take The Lead On Services

In a new initiative, known as the "Sell With" program, partners can directly take the lead on an array of services coupled with a registered Symantec deal while using the company's tools and support.

Under the enhanced program, unveiled at Symantec's PartnerEngage conference in Orlando, Fla., Thursday, partners that register a new deal in the enterprise, midmarket or SMB space also will have access to services opportunities they can attach to that deal. Subsequently, qualified partners that perform services wrapped around product sales will receive a higher daily rate and have streamlined access to Symantec support channels.

"We don't want to compete with the Symantec service organization. What Symantec has done is create a new program for our partners, the 'Sell With' program, that allows service work on a set of opportunities," said Symantec CEO Enrique Salem, to an audience of almost 400 of the company's top VARs attending the conference. "We want you to deliver the services in that segment, and we'll both be more successful."

"We think that is the right answer," he added.

Symantec executives said the decision to implement the "Sell With" program was based on copious feedback from the partner advisory council in an effort to drive higher revenue, add to partners' bottom lines, provide a consistent revenue stream and keep partners competitive in the services market through high-end consulting and service engagements.

Thus far, Symantec has piloted the "Sell With" program with about 70 partners, which have sold services attached to Symantec deals for the past 30 days. "Sell With" will subsequently be rolled out more extensively to a broader partner base over the coming year.

One partner said sales have skyrocketed as his business opened up new accounts and entered new markets in need of services since Symantec initiated the pilot program about a month ago. The said that prior to Symantec's pilot launch, his business faced rapidly declining revenue as he lost accounts to competitors hat were able to provide high-dollar services wrapped around product sales.

"Now it's a free-for-all," said one partner who asked to remain anonymous. "We're printing money."

Salem said Symantec would continue to develop its services business, which is largely comprised of messaging and online content security services gained by the acquisition of MessageLabs in October 2008. Salem said Symantec still planned to grow its own services component to comprise about 15 percent of the business over the next five years.

Symantec historically has been slower to adopt services than some of its mainstream competitors, such as McAfee and Trend Micro. Meanwhile, customer demand for services continues to rise, especially in light of a challenged economy that has crippled IT budgets and staff, compelling customers to look for new ways to cut costs.

However, one partner, who asked to remain anonymous, said that Symantec executives were compelled to change their service programs as partners continued to lose deals on service opportunities. Channel tensions reached a crescendo and negotiations culminated in threats by partners to take their business elsewhere if the company didn't agree to revamping its terms around services.

"We told them we'd leave if they didn't," he said.

Other partners expressed relief and welcomed the opportunity to expand their business to meet an exponentially growing demand for services in the marketplace.

"For us, it's huge. For us it's a great opportunity to remove what could be an otherwise contentious situation between a reseller and the publisher, where the reseller is much more interested in taking those services down directly," said William Santos, general manager of service development for SHI International, based in Piscataway, N.J. "For us, it's always nice to get the license business that is our core. But the ability to demonstrate our enablement and our implementation capabilities and be able to work with Symantec as opposed to in conflict with Symantec to our customers' joint success is very exciting for us.

Santos didn't know how much the initiative would increase services revenue, which he said still comprises a relatively small portion of the overall business.

"Is it going to double? I don't know. But it certainly has the potential to be doubling our numbers on a 12-month basis," he added.

Another solution provider said that Symantec downplayed the "Sell With" announcement during the conference, which ironically would have had the most significant impact on its partner base.

"I think they were really subtle with the announcements they wanted to make, one of them was allowing the partners to be less competitive in services opportunities. So in the enterprise space and below, going to market with the partners -- they really didn't highlight that as much as they could have. I think that would have really excited everybody," said one Midwestern reseller who asked to remain anonymous.

Others were more excited about the new direction the company is taking in regard to services and its channel focus.

"I think what makes Symantec different [from the past] is that they're not just saying they're channel-friendly, they're proving it," said Feris Rifai, CEO and founder of San Francisco-based Bay Dynamics. "The 'Sell With' program is a real indication that they're not just talking the talk, they're actually acting on it. And I like that."

"There were some things wrong, and they fixed it," said Jonathan Dambrot, managing director of Prevalent Networks, based in Warren, N.J. "I have been with Symantec a long time and there is more [partner] engagement now at the executive level than there ever has been."