Product, Program and Practices Expand Partner Cloud Opportunities

At EMC World, EMC Corporation announced initiatives and products to enable the company’s worldwide network of channel partners to accelerate their customers’ journey to cloud computing.

Together with the EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure announced in April 2012, and the new VMAX Service Provider (SP) platform, announced last week, the new EMC Cloud Builder and Cloud Provider Practices, EMC Cooperative Services and the new VNXe3150 unified storage platform provide partners with cloud-enabling capability.

These announcements are a continuation of EMC’s journey to the cloud. In 2011, the company announced the Velocity Service Provider program to jointly develop solutions and services with targeted, established service providers. Those partners who complete the Cloud Provider designation requirements will be included in the Velocity Service Provider Program.

Today, there are more than 160 EMC-powered services being delivered by over 50 EMC Velocity Service providers around the world.

At EMC’s first annual Global Partner Summit (GPS) at EMC World in Las Vegas this week, Joe Tucci, EMC chairman and CEO, and sales and channel leaders presented to more than 3,000 partners these new programs and technologies. Other initiatives that enable channel partners to transform IT, business and themselves in order to maximize their customers’ cloud computing opportunities were also presented.

New Practices and Program:

• EMC Velocity Solution Provider Practices: A new branded designation within the Velocity Solution Provider Program that recognizes advanced levels of capability. Achievement of a Velocity Practice signifies a partner’s value in delivering leading-edge solutions. It recognizes skills in pre-sales, sales and services, across a set of technology solutions needed to address customers’ strategic business initiatives.
• The Cloud Builder Practice enables partners to design, build and manage cloud infrastructures based on EMC technology.
• The Cloud Provider Practice enables Velocity Solution Provider partners with capabilities to design, build and operate their own branded IT-as-a-Service cloud offerings based on EMC technology.

Partners who earn the Velocity Cloud Builder or Cloud Provider Practice designations are eligible for benefits that elevate their value and differentiation in the market and increase profitability.

Included in those benefits are:

• Branded capabilities to address the growing private and public cloud markets, deepen their value as a trusted advisor and deliver a richer, more comprehensive set of solutions;
• Purpose-built products and Proven Infrastructures, such as VMAX SP and VSPEX, to lower risk and speed time to deployment while improving quality of service;
• Acknowledged expertise through certification in the ‘open’ cloud training program: EMC Proven Professional Cloud Architect;
• Access to new cloud solutions and services such as Storage-as-a-Service, Backup-as-a-Service, Rapid Launch, Cloud Advisory, Field Enablement and Remote Monitoring, to create business opportunities;
• New EMC Cooperative Services extend partners’ cloud solution portfolios by adding health-check and assessment services for virtual infrastructures;
• Access to best practices and knowledge-sharing through participation in the EMC Cloud Builder VSpecialist online community;
• Marketing support through publication in the EMC Powered Services Catalogue, as well as Cloud Practice-specific demand generation and branding programs.

The Cloud Builder Practice will be available starting in Q3 2012 and the Cloud Provider Practice will be available in Q4 2012. VMAX SP general availability is expected in 2013.

EMC Cooperative Services
A new service delivery model that gives partners an opportunity to supplement their existing skills and investments and broaden their portfolio of services. Available to service-enabled resellers who are part of the Velocity Solution Provider program and have achieved Velocity Specialty status. In this delivery mode, EMC Global Services provides service components to the partner to incorporate into a larger customer deliverable using EMC methodologies, best practices and analytical tools. Partners own the customer relationship and service engagement and can choose to brand the overall service as their own, strengthening their role as trusted technology partners to their customers.

EMC Cooperative Services provides partners with choice and flexibility in high-value service delivery and are intended to drive profitable, strategic growth while reducing partners’ investment to scale capabilities. EMC Cooperative Services for health checks and assessments on major EMC technology platforms will be available by the end of EMC’s second quarter. Additional EMC Cooperative Services for virtual infrastructure will be available in the second half of 2012.

Product News:

• VNXe3150:  An extension to the VNX Family of unified storage solutions and optimized for organizations building virtualized, private cloud environments, the new channel-only VNXe3150 offers 50% more performance and capacity per rack unit while retaining simplicity for IT generalists managing virtual environments. The VNXe series is available through EMC’s Velocity Solution Provider Partners or Authorized Resellers.
• At EMC World 2012 the company also introduced its wave of transformative products and technologies – 42 in total. These announcements mark the company’s most significant single-day launch of new capabilities for customers, delivering a sweeping refresh that spans key products across its entire information storage, backup, virtualization and management portfolio. As a result, EMC is taking IT efficiency and agility to new levels within both traditional and virtualized data centers. Through its enhanced information infrastructure portfolio, the company is making it easier for customers to quickly take advantage of the shift to hybrid cloud computing with data at its core, and implement the changes needed as they transform their IT, their business and their talent base.

Bob Murphy, area president, Presidio, said: "Presidio is committed to delivering best-of-breed solutions that address our clients’ most critical business challenges. We have made significant investments in recent years to expand our capability to deploy and manage EMC technology. EMC’s Velocity services and specialty programs have helped us to scale rapidly to capitalize on market opportunities. EMC’s new Cloud Builder Practice fits perfectly with our growth strategy. We are excited about the new capabilities and opportunities that the Cloud Builder Practice will offer and we look forward to continued success with EMC."

Rick Eddings, VP of Professional Services, Sigma Solutions, Inc., said: "With more customers transforming their data centers to deliver an IT as a Service model to their businesses, our services business is growing at a phenomenal rate. Acquiring the right skills and capabilities to scale our services and expand our portfolios as fast as we want is a constant challenge. EMC’s new Cooperative Services for channel partners comes at the right time to help us augment our EMC services portfolio and deliver additional value to our customers. We can take advantage of EMC’s deep technical experience and proven methodologies to offer high-value services to our customers under our own brand, further strengthening our relationship with them and building long-term loyalty."

Brian Wasil, IT director, StandFast, Inc., said: "The VNXe3100 has helped us achieve greater data resiliency and redundancy while providing the performance needed for our VM architecture. Additionally, we’ve gone from sporadic downtime of up to four hours to zero downtime since migrating to the VNXe – a company record. When we heard about the VNXe3150 – and that it will deliver more performance and capacity per rack unit – we immediately saw how our business can benefit from reduced operating expenses and performance improvements. The VNXe gives us the industry-leading VMware integration, efficiency and simplified management to run our business."

Gregg Ambulos, SVP of Global Channel Sales, EMC, said: "Cloud computing represents a huge market opportunity for EMC’s partners. Our new Velocity Cloud Practices enable and support them in developing the expertise required to accelerate their clients’ journey to the cloud. Today’s announcement is another example of EMC’s commitment to advancing our partners’ skill set, sales opportunities and differentiation in the market. We are 100% focused on delivering our Velocity partners the best technology and the most comprehensive and rewarding partner program in the industry."