Veritas Intros VAR Renewals Opps

Veritas also unveiled an opportunity registration initiative and introduced a program enabling authorized Microsoft solution providers who become Veritas- certified within the next six months to resell Veritas storage software.

The lack of maintenance renewals has long been a sore spot for Veritas solution providers, who saw it as an important mechanism for staying in touch with customers. "We've been waiting for this for years," said Pat Edwards, vice president of sales at longtime Veritas partner Alliance Technology Group, Hanover, Md., which recently made its first renewals sale.

Previously limited to about a half-dozen solution providers, the renewals sales program has been opened to all Veritas Enterprise Authorized Elite and Premier Partners.

In addition, Veritas' new Opportunity Registration Program offers financial incentives to Veritas Enterprise Authorized Elite and Premier Partners, as well as Windows Authorized Partners, said Julie Parrish, vice president of Americas field and channel marketing at Veritas.

Under the program, partners fill out a registration form online to receive an automatic tracking number, said Parrish. Partners will then receive an e-mail either approving or denying each registered opportunity. The partner later faxes the purchase order to Veritas, before placing the order with a distributor, to confirm the margin enhancement. "We have received nearly 150 submissions for review already," she said.

The registration lasts for 90 days and can be extended if needed, Parrish said. Solution providers can earn a 5 percent to 10 percent bonus discount when closing a registered deal, she said.

Edwards called the new opportunity registration program a nice step in the right direction for Veritas. "It enables their partners to make more money," he said. "[Opportunity registration] has become more of a necessity than a nicety."

Under Veritas' new Windows Authorized Partner Program, solution providers who focus on Windows environments can become authorized to sell Veritas' software and support for Windows as long as they get two Veritas-certified personnel on staff within six months, company officials said. This pertains to Microsoft Large Account Resellers (LARs), Microsoft Gold Certified partners and Citrix Gold or Platinum partners.