2015 Partner Programs Guide: 5-Star Networking Vendors
Notables In Networking
You can have all the systems, software and services you like. But if you don't have communications capabilities between all those IT components, it's all for naught. So it's no surprise that as IT proliferates, networking – wired, wireless, software-defined, etc. – has become increasingly critical. That means more opportunities for solution providers. It also means more need for technical, marketing, sales and financial assistance from IT vendors.
The 2015 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, CRN designates some programs as 5-Star Partner Programs. Here we present the 5-Star designees in the networking technology space.
Adtran
Program Name: ADvantage Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 4,133
North American Channel Chief: Ted Cole
URL: www.adtran.com
Aerohive Networks
Program Name: Aerohive Advantage Program
Year Program Established: 2010
Number of North American Partners: Undisclosed
North American Channel Chief: Johnna Bowley
URL: www.aerohive.com
Allot Communications
Program Name: Allot Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: 60
North American Channel Chief: Greg Parcel
URL: www.allot.com
APC by Schneider Electric
Program Name: APC Channel Partner Program
Year Program Established: 1991
Number of North American Partners: 38,000
North American Channel Chief: Shannon Sbar
URL: www.apc.com
Aruba Networks
Program Name: Aruba PartnerEdge Program
Year Program Established: 2007
Number of North American Partners: 1,500
North American Channel Chief: Jim Harold
AT&T
Program Name: AT&T Partner Exchange
Year Program Established: 2013
Number of North American Partners: 279
North American Channel Chief: Brooks McCorcle
Avaya
Program Name: Avaya Connect
Year Program Established: 2009
Number of North American Partners: 2,271
North American Channel Chief: Joe Lohmeier
URL: www.avaya.com
Barracuda Networks
Program Name: Barracuda Networks Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2004
Number of North American Partners: 4,660
North American Channel Chief: Glenn Esposito
URL: www.barracuda.com
Black Box
Program Name: Black Box Reseller Program
Year Program Established: 2000
Number of North American Partners: 500
North American Channel Chief: Jay Jenkins
URL: www.blackbox.com
BMC Software
Program Name: BMC Partner Advantage
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: 77
North American Channel Chief: Brian Marvin
URL: www.bmc.com
Brocade Communications Systems
Program Name: Brocade Alliance Partner Network
Year Program Established: 2008
Number of North American Partners: 3,627
North American Channel Chiefs: Mike Newcomb (pictured), Eric Buck
URL: www.brocade.com
CenturyLink
Program Name: CenturyLink Channel Alliance
Year Program Established: 1998
Number of North American Partners: 177
North American Channel Chief: Blake Wetzel
URL: www.centurylink.com
Ciena
Program Name: BizConnect Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 44
North American Channel Chief: Nigel Williams
URL: www.ciena.com
Cisco Systems
Program Name: Cisco Solution Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: 497
North American Channel Chief: Wendy Bahr
URL: www.cisco.com
Cisco Systems
Program Name: Cisco Channel Partner Program
Year Program Established: 1996
Number of North American Partners: 20,438
North American Channel Chief: Wendy Bahr
URL: www.cisco.com
Citrix Systems
Program Name: Citrix Partner Network
Year Program Established: 1989
Number of North American Partners: 2,900
North American Channel Chief: Rafael Garzon
URL: www.citrix.com
Comcast Business
Program Name: Comcast Business Solutions Provider Program
Year Program Established: 2011
Number of North American Partners: 3,000
North American Channel Chief: Craig Schlagbaum
Condusiv Technologies
Program Name: Condusiv Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: 1,920
North American Channel Chief: Nick Tidd
URL: www.condusiv.com
Dell
Program Name: Dell PartnerDirect
Year Program Established: 2007
Number of North American Partners: 55,000
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: Jim Butler
URL: www.digium.com
Eaton
Program Name: PowerAdvantage Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2009
Number of North American Partners: 3,733
North American Channel Chief: Ramesh Menon
Emerson Electric, Network Power Division
Program Name: Innovation Partnership Program
Year Program Established: 2004
Number of North American Partners: 1,556
North American Channel Chief: Steven Hammond
Emulex
Program Name: Emulex Connect Partner program
Year Program Established: 2011
Number of North American Partners: 822
North American Channel Chief: John Alfieri
URL: www.emulex.com
Extreme Networks
Program Name: Extreme Partner Network
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: 615
North American Channel Chief: Bob Gault
FireMon
Program Name: FireMon Ignite
Year Program Established: 2011
Number of North American Partners: 82
North American Channel Chief: Todd DeBell
URL: www.firemon.com
Fortinet
Program Name: FortiPartner Program
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: 7,500
North American Channel Chief: Joseph Sykora
URL: www.fortinet.com
FreedomVoice
Program Name: FreedomVoice Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 358
North American Channel Chief: Chris Sterbenc
URL: www.freedomiq.com
Gigamon
Program Name: Gigamon Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2015
Number of North American Partners: 223
North American Channel Chief: Scott Sullivan
URL: www.gigamon.com
Globalscape
Program Name: Globalscape Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: 158
North American Channel Chief: Christopher Cleary
URL: www.globalscape.com
Hewlett-Packard
Program Name: HP PartnerOne
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: 40,000
North American Channel Chief: Scott Dunsire
URL: www.hp.com
Hitachi Data Systems
Program Name: Hitachi TrueNorth Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2003
Number of North American Partners: 560
North American Channel Chief: Christopher White
URL: www.hds.com
IBM
Program Name: IBM PartnerWorld
Year Program Established: 1999
Number of North American Partners: 32,382
North American Channel Chief: Tami Duncan
URL: www.ibm.com
Ixia
Program Name: Channel Xcelerate Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: 220
North American Channel Chief: Lori Cornmesser
URL: www.ixiacom.com
Juniper Networks
Program Name: Juniper Networks Partner Advantage
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: 11,635
North American Channel Chief: Jonathan Belcher
URL: www.juniper.net
Kaseya
Program Name: Kaseya Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2013
Number of North American Partners: 138
North American Channel Chief: Roger Hodskins
URL: www.kaseya.com
Kerio Technologies
Program Name: Kerio Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2001
Number of North American Partners: 1,848
North American Channel Chief: Karen Miller
URL: www.kerio.com
LANDesk Software
Program Name: LANDesk Partner Program
Year Program Established: 1985
Number of North American Partners: 500
North American Channel Chief: Reza Parsia
URL: www.landesk.com
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: 1,000
North American Channel Chief: Darrin Chen
URL: www.mellanox.com
Microsoft
Program Name: Microsoft Partner Network
Year Program Established: 2010
Number of North American Partners: Not Disclosed
North American Channel Chief: Jenni Flinders
URL: www.microsoft.com
Mitel Networks
Program Name: Mitel Partner Program, Americas
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: 750
North American Channel Chief: Sandra E. Hill
URL: www.mitel.com
N-able by SolarWinds
Program Name: N-able by SolarWinds Channel Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2001
Number of North American Partners: 1,962
North American Channel Chief: Mike Cullen
URL: www.n-able.com
Oracle
Program Name: Oracle PartnerNetwork
Year Program Established: 1999
Number of North American Partners: 5,400
North American Channel Chief: Tom LaRocca
URL: www.oracle.com
Palo Alto Networks
Program Name: NextWave Program
Year Program Established: 2010
Number of North American Partners: 1,202
North American Channel Chief: Todd Palmer
Polycom
Program Name: Choice Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2009
Number of North American Partners: 2,341
North American Channel Chief: Barb Huelskamp
URL: www.polycom.com
QLogic
Program Name: Signature Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2000
Number of North American Partners: 2,048
North American Channel Chief: Ryan Klein
URL: www.qlogic.com
Raritan
Program Name: Partner Advantage Program
Year Program Established: 2004
Number of North American Partners: 390
North American Channel Chief: Ashley Fox
URL: www.raritan.com
Red Hat
Program Name: Red Hat Connect
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 1,220
North American Channel Chief: D. Robert Martin
URL: www.redhat.com
Revolabs
Program Name: Core Reseller Program
Year Program Established: 2012
Number of North American Partners: 300
North American Channel Chief: Curtiss Singleton
URL: revolabs.com/home
Riverbed Technology
Program Name: Riverbed Performance Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: 850
North American Channel Chief: Lynn Tinney
URL: www.riverbed.com
Ruckus Wireless
Program Name: Ruckus Big Dog Channel Program
Year Program Established: 2007
Number of North American Partners: 3,703
North American Channel Chief: Ron Gill
Server Technology
Program Name: Power Rewards Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: 175
North American Channel Chief: Mike Johnston
URL: www.servertech.com
ServiceKey
Program Name: Independent Service & Maintenance Organization (ISMO Program)
Year Program Established: 2004
Number of North American Partners: 251
North American Channel Chief: Danielle Thiery
URL: www.servicekey.com
ShoreTel
Program Name: ShoreTel Champion Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2002
Number of North American Partners: Not Disclosed
North American Channel Chief: Sam Koury
URL: www.shoretel.com
Silver Peak
Program Name: Silver Peak Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2011
Number of North American Partners: 200
North American Channel Chief: Bob Bruce
URL: www.silver-peak.com
SimpliVity
Program Name: SimpliVity PartnerAdvantage
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: 250
North American Channel Chief: George Hope
URL: www.simplivity.com
Star2Star Communications
Program Name: Star2Star Channel Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 532
North American Channel Chief: Michelle Accardi-Petersen
URL: www.star2star.com
Unify
Program Name: Unify Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2014
Number of North American Partners: 86
North American Channel Chief: Todd Freefield
URL: www.unify.com/us
Veeam Software
Program Name: Veeam ProPartner Program
Year Program Established: 2006
Number of North American Partners: 3,700
North American Channel Chief: Chris Moore
URL: www.veeam.com
Verizon
Program Name: Verizon Partner Program
Year Program Established: 2013
Number of North American Partners: Not disclosed
North American Channel Chief: Matthew Montgomery
URL: www.verizon.com
VMware
Program Name: VMware Solution Provider Program
Year Program Established: 2003
Number of North American Partners: 22,063
North American Channel Chief: Frank Rauch
URL: www.vmware.com
Zebra Technologies
Program Name: PartnerEmpower Program
Year Program Established: 2010
Number of North American Partners: 3,050
North American Channel Chief: Eileen Eck
URL: www.zebra.com