EMC Enhances Velocity Solution Provider Program

EMC Corporation announced significant enhancements to the EMC Velocity Solution Provider Partner program that provide new opportunities for EMC reselling partners of all sizes around the world to accelerate revenue, differentiate their business in the marketplace, provide more value to customers, and increase profitability.  

The enhanced Velocity program will offer program entry, time-efficient training, easy access to EMC’s portfolio of information infrastructure products and solutions, and new Specialty designations that can spur increased value-added services. With EMC Data Domain deduplication storage systems integrated into Velocity in January and RSA information security solutions coming July 1, 2011, partners will have access to the portfolio of EMC storage, data backup and recovery, archiving, information security and information governance products. EMC will also simplify all day-to-day partner processes including relationship management, generation of customer leads, deal registration, rewards accrued and services opportunities.

As the ‘Digital Universe’ expands by a factor of 44 over the next ten years and the IT landscape changes significantly as companies move ahead on their journey to the private cloud, the opportunity for EMC Velocity partners has never been more significant. EMC’s investment in developing valuable and accessible training and certification programs spanning across four new core specialties – Consolidate, Advanced Consolidate, Backup and Recovery, Governance and Archive – will increase partners addressable market opportunity through the ability to sell, deliver and architect complete end-to-end solutions and become the trusted advisor to customers on their journey to the private cloud. 

Velocity Partner Program Tiers
Provide Incremental Business Benefits  
The new tiers within the Velocity Solution Provider Partner Program are designed to provide partners, large and small, with opportunities to increase their profitability by selling EMC technology and solutions. As EMC continues to deliver more products for SMB customers, the new entry-point Affiliate tier makes it easy for partners to access EMC’s industry-leading products and solutions. Partners can get up to speed through online training modules and enjoy the associated benefits and rewards.

Partners in the new Affiliate Elite tier have the opportunity to increase margins by becoming trained and certified to deliver their own branded value-added services on EMC technology. The Premier and Signature tiers will now be directly linked to the new Velocity Specialties to provide rewards and support to those who increase their investments in EMC to further differentiate themselves. The Premier tier provides incremental business benefits to those who have achieved one Velocity Specialty. Partners in the top tier, Signature, have made the greatest investments in EMC technical expertise by achieving multiple Velocity Specialties which distinctly empowers them to become their customers’ trusted advisor on their journey to the private cloud.

New Velocity Services and Velocity Specialties
Accelerate Partner Business Growth
Partners can accelerate their business growth by investing in new Velocity Services and Velocity Specialties. Through training and EMC Proven Professional certification, Velocity Services gives partners in every tier the opportunity to enhance their margins by delivering services ranging from installation and implementation to technical support.

Partners can invest in the new Velocity Specialties to further differentiate their services capabilities and expand solutions expertise to solve information challenges and achieve unique business objectives in four areas: Consolidate, Advanced Consolidate, Backup and Recovery, and Governance and Archive. More Specialties are planned including an RSA led Security Specialty. All partners who achieve a Velocity Specialty gain solution competency through advanced sales and technical training and certification through Velocity Services, have access to EMC service methodologies and tools and obtain differentiated abilities to assess, design, integrate and deploy the foundational technologies that enable cloud computing.

Availability
The new tiers, integration of Data Domain and the Consolidate, Advanced Consolidate, Backup and Recovery, Governance and Archive Specialties are effective Jan. 1, 2011. RSA integration and the Security Specialty are planned for July 1, 2011.

"The enhancements EMC has made to simplify the process of becoming a Velocity Partner are sure to make the program very attractive for resellers. Minimal up-front investment is required to operate in the new entry-level tier, and resellers with larger practices benefit from enhanced support and differentiation," said Matt Rochford, director of the North American EMC business for Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions.

"Velocity specialties are an absolute home run for ICI because they will allow us to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace as a channel partner to EMC, promote our people from within and enable us to build out verticals and divisions based on them.  We will leverage these skills to help our customers take full advantage of a scalable and resilient private cloud," said Jamie Shepard, Executive Vice President, Technology Solutions International Computerware Inc.

"EMC is demonstrating its commitment to all of its partners with the rollout of the new requirements for the Velocity tiers which help partners, regardless of revenue size, have the opportunity to enjoy rich benefits that enable success. Our ability to more easily move up in the program to experience progressive rewards based on our level of investment in EMC expertise will no doubt enhance our ability to grow our business around EMC technology," said Dan Weiss, Chief Executive Officer, Varrow Inc.

"With storage as one of the top growth areas in IT the opportunity for partners has never been greater. EMC remains committed to delivering the right products to successfully address customer pain points, making EMC’s entire portfolio of industry-leading products accessible, and having the industry-leading partner program that provides everyone the opportunity to be profitable day one," said EMC’s Gregg Ambulos, Vice President, Americas Channel Sales. "For the partners who choose to specialize to further differentiate themselves and ultimately become the trusted advisor to the private cloud, we’re putting more incentives than ever on the table to reward them for their hard work, investments, success and loyalty to EMC."