Everyone’s talking about VMware’s brand new partner programme, which sees a major overhaul of how it engages and rewards new and existing partners.

Arrow’s recent pre-launch event at Swingers crazy golf in London saw a fantastic turnout of partners and helped answer important questions about what Partner Connect means for their organisations going forward.

To help you understand what Partner Connect can do for both businesses and customers, I’ve broken down the programme into 5 key features.

 #1 A Collaborative Approach

VMware has reimagined the way they do business with and for their partners by replacing the old, clunky Partner Network programme with a more modern, streamlined version.

Partner Connect firmly places partner and customer needs at its heart and has been developed in close collaboration with partner teams and the Partner Advisory Council, who have been providing valuable feedback throughout the process.

 When partners speak, VMware listens!

 #2 A Simple, Flexible Framework

VMware has also completely redesigned their framework and are committed to helping organisations focus on their customers, through delivering a consistent programme experience that recognises and rewards partners based on how they want to do business.

Partners are no longer expected to make a choice between Solution Provider or Service Provider. Now there is just one programme, with one agreement, to make partnering with VMware easier, more intuitive and which speeds time to benefit by aligning your specific business models to meet your customers’ most urgent needs.

 #3 Tiers and Competencies

The new partner tier system is split into 3 levels with the Principal Partners reaping the greatest benefits for their ongoing commitment and investment:

·        Partner

·        Advanced Partner

·        Principal Partner

Sales performance and capabilities are key. VMware are looking to reward partners who can add real value for customers and who are prepared to go beyond basic fulfilment requirements and drive consumption rates.

The ultimate goal is to achieve the Master Services Competencies (MSC). Why? Because it differentiates you from your competitors and lets everyone know that you are the go-to organisation in the market.

 #4 Incentives

It’s worth repeating, that only Principal Partners can unlock extra deployment and consumption incentives.

VMware are driving higher standards and encouraging excellence by giving greater rewards to partners who have advanced mastery skill sets which are aligned to strategic IT priorities like:

·        Accelerating cloud transformation

·        Transforming networking and security

·        Empowering digital workspaces

And only Principal partners will be considered for co-selling to benefit from increased sales and improved win ratios to help drive customer success.

#5 Expert Support

VMware have pulled out all the stops to help you maximise your opportunities.

The new Partner Portal is home to a huge array of resources from training and education to lead tracking, all designed to help you on the road to gaining MSCs that set you apart from other organisations.

 Final Thoughts

This is a real opportunity to be part of a mutually beneficial ecosystem that will help grow your business into the future, enabling customers to scale and succeed as you meet the challenges ahead, in true partnership with VMware.

Learn more about the new Partner Connect programme here. https://www.vmware.com/uk/partners/excel-as-a-partner/partner-connect.html