SC19: WekaIO Global Partner Program

WekaIO, Inc., in scalable file storage for data-intensive applications, launched its Innnovation Network (WIN), a program that empowers partners to solve customers’ biggest data-intensive challenges.

WIN equips partners with modern storage architecture solutions, technical expertise, and a value proposition that includes acceleration of data to technical computing GPU resources for performance.

It provides partners with access to the Weka File System (WekaFS), which offers a storage infrastructure that accelerates the demanding workloads in the datacenter. The value of WIN is a partner ecosystem that delivers validated solutions that meet the performance demands of next-gen applications, solving customer challenges across industries.

WIN is a program that delivers the resources partners need. Training is provided, and there are opportunities with deal registration to grow top-line revenue. With four tiers (Innovator, Leader, Accelerator, and Catalyst), the program creates an environment for partners to grow their AI and ML practices and competencies. Each tier level unlocks additional benefits, ranging from partner portal access and sales training to co-branded campaigns, a dedicated account manager, and engineering solutions testing, amongst others.

WIN partners benefit from privileges, including:

Co-Marketing Support: The company has dedicated resources to work with partners on joint marketing events that raise awareness and drive demand for software-defined solutions. Eligible partners have access to MDF funds to help with demand gen activities and field events.
Technical Support: WIN partners have access to firm’s technical support team.
Online Partner Portal: An online portal is available to all partners with sales tools, training, turn-key campaigns, deal registration, and more.

The WekaIO partner and technology ecosystem provides partners with the resources needed to deliver solutions to customer problems that are differentiated from the existing NAS, NVMeoF, and parallel file systems they might have in place.

WIN lets partners sell higher-margin solutions, contributing to profitability from the outset. WekaFS for demanding, data-intensive workloads can enhance margins on total customer solutions by generating a recurring revenue stream through a subscription-based pricing model.

Andrew Perry, VP of OEM sales, WekaIO, said: “Rapid advancements in application and compute technology have given rise to AI, ML and other high-performance workloads becoming mainstream. WekaIO has built key relationships with OEM and channel partners that offer a differentiator in scale-out solutions. WekaIO has been most successful in areas that push beyond the limits of traditional or legacy solutions-opening new lines of revenue for partners.“

William Wu, VP of product marketing and management, Penguin Computing, Inc., a WIN partner, said: “In today’s digital economy, data is highly valued because of its role in powering AI and ML solutions. With Frostbyte Storage powered by WekaFS, Penguin Computing has successfully deployed petabyte-scale storage components attached to current offerings in HPC, AI/ML, and converged HPC and AI solutions.“

Al Chien, president, Dasher Technologies, Inc., a WIN partner, said: “WekaIO delivers a product that really stands alone in its performance and ROI to customers. As a WIN Leader partner, we have seen immediate sales engagements and collaboration with the WekaIO channel and field sales team.“

Kevin Rhone, senior partner consultant, Enterprise Strategy Group, said: “We applaud WekaIO’s WIN program-a straightforward program that accelerates time to market for partners and helps them create deeper conversations with customers on AI. ESG has evaluated the WekaIO software and determined that it delivers high performance at any scale, with operational simplicity and flexible deployment models, which helps partners maximize revenue while providing customer value.“

Mat Gruen, senior director of channel sales, WekaIO, said: “The future is bright for WIN. Soon, we will have competencies for AI, ML, HPC, and analytics. We will also be announcing reference architectures and solutions for increased selling success while also profiling specializations in verticals to align go-to-market strategies.“

Charla Bunton-Johnson, global director, partner and field marketing, WekaIO, said: “WekaIO is 100% channel-focused, and we have a dedicated channel sales and marketing team working to build up and scale through-partners sales. Our goal is to evolve the WIN program to meet the enablement and program needs of our partners while delivering a differentiated high-performance storage feature set to customers that will transform their data into value for their business.“

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