Samsung Ascend Partner Program

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. unveiled its Ascend Partner Program, which introduces more streamlined program tiers, a partner portal, and new automated tools and processes for its enterprise mobile, display and SSD solution partners.

This transitions Samsung’s legacy STEP program to the newly-named Ascend Partner Program, which takes a simplified approach to creating value for partners by increasing market opportunities and providing a single point of access to sales programs and partner resources. This includes new tools to help partners optimize business revenue through new rebates and incentives and gain greater visibility into their performance via a one-stop shop user interface.

“Partners are extremely important for Samsung, helping us provide our business customers synergistic solutions that accelerate market returns and seamlessly integrate with their legacy solutions,” said Chris Mertens, VP, sales of the display division, Samsung Electronics America. “We’ve focused on improving the ease of conducting business and enabling partner access to product information. This program evolution will create a more passionate partner community where members share best practices, spark innovation and discover opportunities to better serve customers.“

Easy-to-Access Partner Portal Central to the new channel program is a new Ascend partner portal, which provides a single destination offering integrated access to a range of partner resources, including marketing collateral, special pricing, deal registration, performance dashboards and digital training courses.

As the traditional IT channel continues to change, the industry is seeing the emergence of pure play managed mobility services providers, such as Stratix Corp., a Ascend partner based in Atlanta, GA.

According to Gina Daniel Lee, VP, strategic alliances and partnerships, Stratix: “Through the launch of the Ascend Partner Program and portal, Samsung has made strategic improvements for the channel partner community. There are many benefits to this unique offer from Samsung and we are excited about how Stratix can and will excel within the program structure.“

Built with Partner Insight Samsung sought partner and industry feedback to develop the Ascend Partner Program, creating a channel platform that will help partners serve customers better as business workplace transitions from manual to digital processes.

A central part of Samsung’s channel strategy for the B2B mobile division is to combine partners’ expertise as managed mobile solution providers with Samsung devices and endpoints to address the specific mobile needs of vertical industries. This includes leveraging key ISV and accessory partner relationships to drive the next gen of business mobility solutions.

“Our diverse business portfolio and device capabilities provide the ideal platform for our B2B partners to offer market leading solutions that address clients’ business challenges in vertical markets,” said Michael Coleman, VP, B2B mobile channel, Samsung Electronics America. “The Ascend Partner Program will enable our partners to deliver more distinct and scalable solutions that help businesses adapt to a rapidly changing business landscape.“

Samsung continues to see its success in enterprise solutions linked to partner success. The Ascend program aims to help partners deliver digital solutions geared to helping customers build data-driven organizations that empower workforces.

“Samsung offers unmatched support through the Ascend Partner Portal. With easily-searchable resources and industry content at our fingertips, we are able to inform and inspire our customers,” says Morgan Petty, VP marketing and customer success, Embed Digital. “The partner portal has empowered our team to act as thought leaders in the industries we serve, thus, increasing demand for our products and service offerings.“