2016 Partner Program Guide: 5-Star System Vendors
Serious About Systems
The IT systems arena is in a state of flux as next-generation converged infrastructure hardware becomes an increasingly attractive alternative to traditionally separate compute, network and storage servers. While just about every major IT vendor has jumped into the hyper-converged system market, they are being challenged by aggressive startups that are competing for their business – and for the attention of their channel partners.
For solution providers, that means lots of opportunities. It also means lots of decisions about which vendors to partner with. The 2016 Partner Program Guide offers the information solution providers need to evaluate IT vendors they work with or are considering working with. The guide is based on detailed applications vendors submitted outlining all aspects of their partner programs.
As part of the Partner Program Guide, The Channel Company designates some programs as 5-Star Partner Programs. Here we present the 5-Star designees in the system technology space.
A10 Networks Inc.
Program Name: A10 Affinity Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Kirsten Young
URL: www.a10networks.com
APC by Schneider Electric
Program Name: APC Channel Partner Program
Year Program Established: 1991
Number of North American Partners: 22,500
North American Channel Chief: Shannon Sbar
URL: http://www.apc.com
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Program Name: Aruba PartnerEdge
Year Program Established: 2007
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Jim Harold
Asigra Inc.
Program Name: Asigra Hybird Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2009
Number of North American Partners: 450
North American Channel Chief: Eran Farajun
URL: www.asigra.com
AT&T
Program Name: AT&T Alliance Program
Year Program Established: 1998
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Kevin Leonard
URL: www.att.com/alliance
AT&T
Program Name: AT&T Partner Exchange
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Brooks McCorcle
URL: www.att.com
Avaya
Program Name: Avaya Connect
Year Program Established: 2009
Number of North American Partners: 2,414
North American Channel Chief: Joe Lohmeier
URL: www.avaya.com
Barracuda Networks
Program Name: Barracuda Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2004
Number of North American Partners: 5,304
North American Channel Chief: Christopher Meyer
URL: www.barracuda.com/
CenturyLink
Program Name: CenturyLink Channel Alliance
Year Program Established: 1998
Number of North American Partners: 200
North American Channel Chief: Blake Wetzel
URL: www.centurylink.com
Cisco Systems
Program Name: Cisco Solution Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2013
Number of North American Partners: 450
North American Channel Chief: Rick Snyder
URL: www.cisco.com
Cisco Systems
Program Name: Cisco Global Channel Partner Program
Year Program Established: 1996
Number of North American Partners: 20,880
North American Channel Chief: Rick Snyder
URL: www.cisco.com
Citrix
Program Name: Citrix Partner Network
Year Program Established: 1989
Number of North American Partners: 2,670
North American Channel Chief: Rafael Garzon
URL: www.citrix.com
Datto
Program Name: Partner Plus Program
Year Program Established: 2013
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Rob Rae
URL: www.datto.com
Dell
Program Name: Dell PartnerDirect
Year Program Established: 2007
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Jim DeFoe
URL: www.dell.com
Digium
Program Name: Digium Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2007
Number of North American Partners: 2,514
North American Channel Chief: Steve Harvey
URL: www.digium.com
Eaton
Program Name: PowerAdvantage Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2009
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Sommer Goodknecht
EMC Corp.
Program Name: EMC Business Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Scott Millard
URL: www.emc.com
Emerson Network Power
Program Name: Innovation Partnership Program
Year Program Established: 2004
Number of North American Partners: 1,753
North American Channel Chief: Jessica Kaiser
Extreme Networks
Program Name: Extreme Partner Network
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: 500
North American Channel Chief: Dave Allison
FireMon
Program Name: FireMon Ignite
Year Program Established: 2011
Number of North American Partners: 140
North American Channel Chief: Todd M. DeBell
URL: www.firemon.com
Fortinet
Program Name: Fortinet Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Joe Sykora
URL: www.fortinet.com
Genband
Program Name: Partner Advantage Program
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Michael Bacus
URL: www.genband.com
Gigamon
Program Name: Gigamon Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2015
Number of North American Partners: 262
North American Channel Chief: Barbara Spicek
URL: www.gigamon.com
Gridstore
Program Name: Gridstore Accelerate Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2011
Number of North American Partners: 60
North American Channel Chief: Phil Lavery
URL: www.gridstore.com
Guidance Software
Program Name: Guidance Software Global Partner Program
Year Program Established: 1997
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Scott Skidmore
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Program Name: HPE Partner Ready
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Scott Dunsire
URL: www.hpe.com
Hitachi Data Systems
Program Name: Hitachi TrueNorth Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2003
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Christopher P. White
URL: www.hds.com
HP Inc.
Program Name: HP Partner First
Year Program Established: 2015
Number of North American Partners: 18,827
North American Channel Chief: Stephanie Dismore
URL: www.hp.com/
IBM
Program Name: PartnerWorld
Year Program Established: 1999
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Michelle Stern
URL: ibm.com/partnerworld
Intel Corp.
Program Name: Intel Technology Provider Program
Year Program Established: 1980
Number of North American Partners: 23,399
North American Channel Chief: Todd Garrigues
URL: http://www.intel.com
Juniper Networks
Program Name: Juniper Partner Advantage Program
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Jonathan Belcher
URL: www.juniper.net
Lenovo
Program Name: Lenovo Partner Network
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 29,000
North American Channel Chief: Sammy Kinlaw
URL: www.lenovo.com
Mellanox Technologies
Program Name: Mellanox PartnerFIRST Program
Year Program Established: 2008
Number of North American Partners: 1,150
North American Channel Chief: Darrin Neil Chen
URL: www.mellanox.com
Microsoft
Program Name: Microsoft Partner Network
Year Program Established: 2010
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Stephen Boyle
URL: www.microsoft.com
NetApp
Program Name: NetApp Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: 1,045
North American Channel Chief: Scott Strubel
URL: www.netapp.com
Nimble Storage
Program Name: Nimble Storage Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2015
Number of North American Partners: 450
North American Channel Chief: Keith Macove
Nutanix
Program Name: Nutanix Partner Network
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Chris Morgan
URL: www.nutanix.com
Oracle Corp.
Program Name: Oracle PartnerNetwork
Year Program Established: 1999
Number of North American Partners: 5,500
North American Channel Chief: Bill Swales
URL: www.oracle.com
Palo Alto Networks
Program Name: NextWave Program
Year Program Established: 2010
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Todd Palmer
Pivot3
Program Name: Pivot3 Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Jason Peoples
URL: www.pivot3.com
Polycom Inc.
Program Name: Polycom Global Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2009
Number of North American Partners: 2,610
North American Channel Chief: Nick Tidd
URL: www.polycom.com
Pure Storage
Program Name: P3 (Pure Partner Program)
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Michael Sotnick
Quantum Corp.
Program Name: Quantum Alliance
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: 6,900
North American Channel Chief: Andrew Brinck
Riverbed Technology
Program Name: Riverbed Performance Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: 591
North American Channel Chief: Michelle Hodges
URL: www.riverbed.com
Samsung Electronics America
Program Name: Samsung Team Of Empowered Partners
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Gregory Taylor
Server Technology Inc.
Program Name: Power Rewards Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: 200
North American Channel Chief: Mike Johnston
URL: www.servertech.com
ServiceKey
Program Name: Independent Service and Maintenance Organization
Year Program Established: 2004
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Danielle Thiery
Silver Peak
Program Name: Global Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2015
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Derek Dal Ponte
URL: www.Silver-peak.com
SimpliVity
Program Name: SimpliVity PartnerAdvantage
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: 408
North American Channel Chief: George Hope
URL: www.simplivity.com
Talari Networks
Program Name: Talari SMART Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2015
Number of North American Partners: 63
North American Channel Chief: Michele Hayes
URL: www.talari.com
Tegile Systems, Inc.
Program Name: Tegile Authorized Partner Advantage Program
Year Program Established: 2010
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Charles Bass
URL: www.tegile.com
Tintri Inc.
Program Name: Tintri Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: John Schwan
URL: www.tintri.com
Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Business Solutions Division
Program Name: Toshiba Preferred Partner Program
Year Program Established: 1985
Number of North American Partners: 3,000
North American Channel Chief: Richard Vaughn
VeloCloud Networks
Program Name: VeloCloud Channel Program
Year Program Established: 2015
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Ratnesh Sharma
URL: www.velocloud.com
Verizon
Program Name: Verizon Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2013
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Janet Schijns
URL: www.verizon.com
Viavi Solutions
Program Name: Viavi Velocity Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2015
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Sergio Bea